No Line on the Horizon
by DesmondHume
Summary: The story of how James and Lily fell in love. Also includes Sirius B./O.C., Remus Lupin/O.C. I should update about once a week. Rated M for safety for now, it'll probably deserve the rating later .
1. Chapter 1: Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I do not own and am in no way affiliated with anything to do with Harry Potter(although I wish I was). I only own the characters I create.

* * *

Chapter 1:

**James**

The mingling of scents, sights, and sounds was overwhelming as James Potter stood at the train station, waiting to board the Hogwarts Express. Mothers, tearily kissing their children goodbye, friends, reuniting with open arms, and teachers bustling about, trying to scoop everyone onto the train. However, all of this was lost on James. He had just seen a flash of red hair that could only mean one thing. Lily Evans was here.

Lily Evans. How could he even begin to describe that girl? She was highly intelligent, extremely adept at Potions, vivacious, beautiful, mysterious, and she hated him with a passion. For the last six years he had been hopelessly in love with her and she could not stand it. Every time he tried to tell her, or make something happen between them she had shot him down. Last year on Valentines Day he hired a group of cupids and bought most of the chocolate from Honeydukes Sweet Shop. When Lily entered the Great Hall, she was surrounded by the cupids, then offered the chocolate and James' undying love. He was in the Hospital Wing for 3 days.

Needless to say, she was not interested. But that did not stop him from running after her now, abandoning Sirius, his trunk and owl.

"Lil-"

"James!" he heard a familiar voice yell. "James, over here!" James stopped running and swung his head around to see Remus' face beaming by his trunk. "Why were you running like a maniac?" Remus laughed.

"Lily, why else?" James sighed. "I was running after her, I don't know why I always do that."

"Honestly? I don't think anyone does. But come here!" Remus pulled him and Sirius into an embrace. "It's been all summer! All I've heard from you two have been lousy owls."

"Yeah, well Sirius was busy getting himself settled at my house, wasn't he," James said. "I reckon my mum loves him more than she loves me."

"I reckon so, mate," Sirius said. "She was crying an awful lot today, and it didn't seem to be about you." James whacked him in the arm. Sirius yelped.

"Come on, you know you deserved that," James said. Sirius grinned and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "Wait, where's Peter? I haven't seen him here yet and we've been waiting an hour, Mum was rather insane about the whole thing, said she didn't want a repeat of last year."

"Yeah, McGonagall wasn't too happy about that either. But I haven't seen Peter either, although I only just got here. Do you think he's trying to catch rats in the alley again?" Remus asked.

"No. I really hope that was just the once. Let's get on the train, shall we? It's gonna leave in like 5 minutes, and I want to get a good compartment so we don't have to share with Snivellus again." They boarded the train and headed to the Gryffindor part, with Remus at the front. "There's only one compartment that's not full, but I think...yeah, Lily is in there," Remus sighed.

"Lily? Evans?" James asked excitedly.

"Yes, Lily Evans, who else?" Remus said. "But listen James, remember when we decided it would be better if you backed off a little, and just let her be for a while? So that she could have some time to think things through?"

"Yes, of course I remember, but didn't you say it was the only compartment that's not full? So we have to take it!" James said happily.

"Okay, but just try not to be so..."  
"Clingy?" Sirius said. "Because James, you really are clingy, mate." James brushed aside them and opened the compartment door.

"Lily!" he exclaimed. Lily stood up with a warning look on her face. "Look, Lily, before you get all defensive, this is the only compartment left, and I _promise_ not to be all..." he glanced at Sirius, "Clingy."

"Really? You, not clingy? I'd like to see this." She plopped back down.

James took a moment to take in his surroundings. The compartment was comfortable looking, with red seats corded with gold fabric, and a huge window currently looking at Platform 9 ¾. Lily was sitting directly opposite from where he was standing now, with her best friends Rose and Giselle. Rose had waist length blonde hair and gray-blue eyes, and she was just as smart as Lily, although she was better suited for Arithmancy and Charms. She was warmer to James than Lily was, and James rather thought she liked Sirius. Giselle had black hair and cocoa brown eyes with turquoise outlining the iris. She was exquisitely beautiful, perhaps as beautiful as Lily was. She was in James' Divination class, one of the 4 people that were, but she much preferred Transfiguration.

All three girls were surveying the newcomers with zeal. "Hello, boys," Giselle said, "How was your summer?" The three boys entered the compartment and sat down; James next to Giselle, Sirius next to Rose, and Remus next to James. James winked at Lily, who shuddered. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Ours was great, thanks for asking," Remus said, "Although it was rather hot this summer, and we didn't get to hang out at all...come to think of it it was pretty lousy."

"Yeah, we're _really_ glad to get back to Hogwarts," James said, "It's been a long three months."

"I can't _wait_ to get to the Hogwarts!" Sirius exclaimed, "All of the food! Don't get me wrong, James' mum is a great cook, and James isn't bad himself-" he was cut off as James glared at him, "Padfoot, you promised you wouldn't tell anyone about that!" he hissed.

"Oh right...sorry. Accident," Sirius smirked. Giselle snickered into her hand. All of a sudden, they heard a deafening whistle and the train gave a great lurch. They turned around to look out the window and saw Platform 9 ¾ appear to be moving.

"The train! It's starting! Only 6 more hours to go before we get to Hogwarts!" Rose announced.

"Yeah, which means 6 more hours with James," Lily sighed. "I was looking forward to these hours as my last James free ones." James gave Lily a hurt expression and Lily looked somewhat taken aback. "Well, I'm just happy to be on our way, regardless of who we're with," Giselle replied. "Besides, think of all the candy! Where is..." She trailed off.

"Yes?" Remus asked.

"Well, I was trying to think of the name of the lady who pushes the food trolley and I just realized, I have no idea what it is!" Giselle said, surprised.

"Oh my god, you're right!" Lily said, "This is ridiculous! It's our 7th year and we don't even know her name! We should ask!"

"We can't ask, Lily! I mean, how would you feel if someone you've known for six years asked what your name was?" Rose questioned.

"Yeah, let's just take our food and go," James said. "Look, here she is!" The trolley slowly inched down the hall towards their compartment. As soon as the lady pushing it came into sight, they leaped up and began to select their food. Pumpkin pasties, Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, cauldron cakes, licorice wands, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Acid Pops(James could not for the life of him understand why someone would want to eat them; probably Dumbledore put them on, as they were a favorite of his), Pepper Imps, and much much more. Five hours later, everyone was starting to crash from the sugar, and changing into their robes. The boys went out while the girls changed, and vice versa. When they were done they all squeezed back into the compartment except for Remus and Lily, who had to go for Head Girl and Boy meetings,.

Giselle yawned and put her head on Rose's lap. James did the same on Sirius'.

"Oy! Get off, whaddyou think you're doing!" Sirius yelled in James' ear.

"What? Giselle is doing it!" James said.

"Well they're girls, aren't they! Girls are strange!" Sirius shoved James' head off. James looked at Sirius reproachfully and sulked in the corner. Giselle and Rose started laughing.

"You know, James, you're alright," Rose said. "Lily always talks about you like you're horrid, but I don't think you are. I think you're rather cute, actually." Rose had the tendency to say exactly what she meant, James noticed. "Lily talks about me like I'm horrid?" James gasped.

"Yes. But I think it's all an act. I think she warmed up to you somewhat last year and if you play it right, something could happen this year. You've just got to not be so clingy."

"Clingy? What is it with people and that word!" James shook his head. "I guess I can be a little...maybe a _little_ clingy. But don't worry people, my Lilykins will come around." Rose snorted into her pie, "Lilykins? No wonder you have to keep asking her out!"

"Yes, Lily hates pet names," Giselle said matter-of-factly. "Ever since her sister...well, never mind."

"No, what?" James asked, "Ever since her sister what?" But the train came to a halting stop and they got thrown off their seats into a huge pile on the floor. Rose was on top of Sirius and James was on top of Giselle.

"Ooh la la," said Sirius, "I never knew, Rose." Rose blushed immensely and jumped up. "I don't know what you're talking about." She put her long, dirty-blonde hair into a ponytail and practically ran out of the compartment. "Ni-ice, Sirius," Giselle said, "Do you scare all the girls away?"

"You wish," he said, "Just be glad I haven't scared you yet." Giselle poked him and followed Rose.

James sighed and looked at Sirius. "Just us again, eh?"

"Yeah. But at least we get to sit with everyone at dinner. I think you've made quite an impression on Lily, mate, she doesn't seem to despise you quite as much."

"Gee, thanks Padfoot," James scoffed. He was quiet for a minute as he rolled his things down the corridor. "You really think so? I mean, I thought we had a good time today, laughing and everything, but I guess I never thought she would _actually_ like me, as she's been hating me for the last six years."

"Well, think about what Rose said. Who knows her better than that? Besides Giselle, I mean? And Rose is rather...erm, how do I put this...blunt? She's not afraid to say what she thinks, and she _is _brilliant, so mostly what she thinks is right. I think you may have a chance this year Prongs, if you play it right!" Sirius clapped James on the back and brushed past him with a, "Hey! Mary! I've been meaning to talk to you about..."

James just stood there for a minute, reflecting on what had been said. True, Lily had laughed at his jokes and touched his arm a couple of times, but whenever she did this she caught herself and looked horrified. Well, whatever the case, James vowed to himself that he would, he _would_, make her fall in love with him this year.

**Lily**

Three hours later, Lily was exhausted, full, and happy. She had just spent the last hour watching James and Sirius make fools of themselves in front of McGonagall, who, by the way, James called Minnie. She shuddered at the memory and climbed the stairs to their dorm.

"LILY!" All Lily saw was a flash of mahogany hair as Eloise flung herself across the room onto Lily. This managed to make them both fall, Eloise on top of Lily, in a pile half on her trunk and half on the floor.

"Eloise...gerrof!" Lily said.

"Sorry! I was just so happy to see you! I saw Rose and Gizz at dinner, where were you?"

"I was next to them, but you probably didn't see me because I was laughing at Potter. He put corn on all of his teeth and started pretending to be a woodchuck...it was...well, it was amusing to say the least."

"Potter? I'm not surprised. Ha. Anyway, my bed is over here and I'm sure you're just as tired as I am, so I'll let us both get to bed. We can catch up tomorrow in Transfiguration." She turned to walk away but Lily said,

"You know me. I'll be _studying_ in Transfiguration, which I reckon you should do as well." Eloise smiled at her and walked away. Lily thought she heard her muttering under her breath.

She picked up her trunks off the floor and brushed them off. The house elves must have unpacked them, she thought, so her stuff wasn't all jumbled up inside. She walked over to Giselle's bed(on the right of hers)and sat down on it. Rose was already there, and both of them looked up as she entered the hangings.

"Hey," yawned Giselle, "We were just talking about you. Which period is your Charms class?"  
"Er...I believe it's fourth, right after lunch," she declared. They compared schedules. "Good, so we all have the same classes, except for Rose who has Divination," she confirmed.

"Yeah," said Rose, "With James." She yawned and said, "It's extremely late and I have _got _to go to bed. Lily, you're a bitch in the morning regardless, but you're worse when you get no sl-come on Lily, there's no point in denying it. 'Night."

"'Night," they replied. Lily grinned at Giselle and went into the bathroom to take a shower and brush her teeth, passing Eloise on the way. She was sprawled on the bed with an appendage to each side. Lily chuckled and closed her curtains.

_ "Ahhhhh," _Lily thought as she stepped into the warm water. She washed her body with her favorite grapefruit soap and her hair with her raspberry shampoo. As she stepped out, she felt warm and fuzzy and happy to be at Hogwarts. Then she got into her bed, pulled up her flannel sheets, and fell asleep instantly.


	2. Chapter 2: Girl Interrupted in Her Music

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the Harry Potter characters listed in my story. The only ones I own are the ones created my myself. I also don't own any pomegranate tea at the moment, which will have to be remedied soon. 

* * *

Chapter 2:

**Sirius**

Sirius woke up with a jolt as his wizard alarm clock went off. "Mmmmmmf," he moaned and rolled over in his bed. The alarm clock was still beeping. "Mmmmmmmmmf," he moaned again and sat up in bed. He rubbed his eyes as the vision slowly returned to them. Why was he looking at a curtain, and why wasn't he at James' house? Did he really run away from home, or was that just a dream? As the alarm clock beeped again, he remembered. He was at Hogwarts, and they were going to be late for breakfast. "Mmf," he moaned for the last time and stood up. The blood rushed to his head and he felt dizzy as he shot a spell at the clock to make it shut up.

The clock was a Black family heirloom. It was silver and ornately carved in the shape of a mini grandfather clock. The Black family crest and motto(Toujours Pur)was stamped on the clock face. His father had given it to him early for his 11th birthday, as he would be at Hogwarts, and Sirius remembered exactly what his father had said to him.

"Sirius, I am giving you this clock as my father gave to me on my 11th birthday. It has been handed down for 6 generations and I expect you to keep it clean and running. You are to give this to your boy on his same birthday. Happy birthday, son." His father had clapped him on the shoulder and walked away. This was before Sirius had gone to Hogwarts and been 'corrupted', and it was the last nice memory he had of his father. The next five years had been full of hatred and rebellion; Sirius remembered the time he had brought all those muggle posters home and pasted them to his walls. His mother had locked him the kitchen with Kreacher for 2 days before he managed to bribe Kreacher with a watch his uncle gave him for Christmas.

Sirius sighed and walked over to James' bed and shook him. "Prongs, wake up, we're going to be late for breakfast. It's 7:45."

"Shit," James said and rolled out of bed. Sirius walked to the bathroom and saw Remus already there, brushing his teeth looking like the living dead. He grunted at Sirius as Sirius washed his face and finished getting ready. He put on his robes(they were so comfortable! Why muggles wore pants he would never know)his tie, his shoes and socks and went down to the common room. Giselle Reyes was already there, yawning and looking at her schedule. He walked over to her and sat down next to her on the couch. She looked up and said, "Oh, hey Sirius," and went back to her schedule. "Morning, Giselle," he said.

"Yes, it is morning, isn't it," she said, looking up, "And its _way_ too early. I wish I was in bed right now."

"Me too. Hogwarts should start at 10 or something so we could get up at 8:30 instead...7:30 is just ridiculous. We never had to get up that early before!"

"Yes, but we didn't need as much time before. We were younger then." She suppressed a yawn and stood up. "I'm going down to the Great Hall, you wanna come with?" she asked.

"No thanks, I have to wait for James. He's probably trying to straighten his hair or something," he said. Giselle laughed and walked through the door as the portrait swung out of the way.

He lied down on the couch and closed his eyes. He thought he quite liked Giselle. They had talked a lot on the train yesterday, and although he was just getting to know her, he could see them being good friends.

That was something he definitely needed more of in life. Although he had James, Sirius, and Peter, he had never had any _girl_ friends. Every girl that he tried to talk to would either flirt nonstop, or they would shrivel up and become so embarrassed that they couldn't say anything. Remus told him that it was because he was extremely good looking(Sirius had stayed away from him for a couple days after that)but he didn't understand. He was just slightly more than average. Yes, his hair was good, and his eyes did have purple flecks in them, but if that was standing in the way of him having friends he would gladly give that up. He sighed as James and Remus came down the stairs.

"Hey, Rem," Sirius said. He grunted back. James threw a dirty look at Sirius and covered his ears. "_Must_ you be so loud? Some people are tired!" James scowled and walked out of the portrait hole. Remus shook his head and followed him.

Sirius yawned loudly as he walked into the Great Hall, looking up at the ceiling to see which form it had taken. Today, it was sunny with a cloud or two, casting mini shadows over the high table. They went over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. James, of course, was next to Lily and Sirius was next to Rose. James had brightened up considerably since he had seen Lily and was talking to her about O.W.L.s.

"Yes, I got ten," he said conversationally. "I got an all O's except for in Divination, and really, can you blame me? Grenouille is a _lousy_ teacher."

"You got..._ten_ O.W.L.'s?" Lily gasped, "But...you look so...and you never study...and you have _Quidditch_..."

"Well, I suppose I'm a bit smarter than I look, aren't I? And I did study, Remus made me. It wasn't fun. Sirius though, he _never_ studies. And he got eleven! And Remus did too, straight O's." Lily was gaping at him. Sirius chuckled and went back to his porridge and rolls. He needed butter..."Rose would you pass the butter?" Rose passed the butter, "Yeah here you go. Could I have it back when you're done though?" Sirius passed the butter back. "Thanks."

Rose took at least a tablespoon and spread it a centimeter thick all over her toast, making sure it even reached the crust. She looked up to find Sirius staring at her, porridge forgotten. "What?"

"Well, I just...it's just so much butter! How do you eat it all?" Rose blushed and said, "When I was a toddler, my mum found me sitting on the kitchen floor peeling and eating a stick of butter like it was a banana. I guess I just...really like butter!"

"I'll say," Sirius snorted.

"I don't fit into the stereotype of girls who never eat," she said, "I never saw the point. I love food. As long as you're healthy, what's the big deal?" Sirius took a moment to survey her body (discreetly, of course). She was about 5' 5'' and very slim, and her body was rather curvy too, in a good way. Her neck was slender and a bit longer than most people's; he was quite sure that other girls were jealous of it, and also of her lips. Her lips had a kind of cherubic quality about them that he'd never seen on anyone else. Slightly pouty and full, they were a deep red, almost a garnet. Her skin was fair and her cheeks had a slight flush to them. Her eyes were a dark navy blue, almost gray. She was...stunning.

It had been a few moments since he had looked at her and now she was looking at him. "Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked.

"Like what?"

"Like you're checking me out."

"Because I was checking you out," he said. "And I must say that I'm glad I did." She looked at him for a moment and turned to Lily, who was laughing at something James had just said. "We should be getting to class, the bell's going to ring any minute and we have to hand in those essays that we did over the summer to Professor Locke. I talked to him at dinner last night and he said he would go over them today during class."

"Yeah, you're right," she said, "But I left mine in the common room, we have to go get it."

"Damn it!" Rose cursed, "So did I." She said goodbye to everyone and they rushed off. Sirius turned to his right and saw Giselle getting up too. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have to get something from my dormitory, see you in Arithmancy." She rushed of after them. Sirius finished his breakfast just as the bell rang, and he walked with Remus and James to class.

"So did you hear from Peter yet?" Remus asked.

"No, but we should probably ask about that," said James, "I'm getting kind of worried-Minnie!" he yelled at McGonagall. "Minnie, what's happened to Peter? You know he's not here, right?"

"Yes, Potter, I am aware that one of my students isn't here, and what did I tell you about calling me that?" she said in her Scottish accent.

"Right, sorry Professor. Where is he then?"

"Peter missed the train. He would be here by now if his cousin hadn't been killed; he's going to the funeral next week and in the meantime it was best for him to be with family. He should be here by September 15th."

"What?" Remus gasped, "His cousin _died_? Which cousin?"

"It's a shame really...Arabella Pettigrew. She was fighting some Death Eaters and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed her." She paused for a moment to sigh. "The times are getting darker. More and more things like this are happening as You-Know-Who reaches the peak of his power. It will get worse-" she stopped as she realized what she was saying. "Forgive me. You three should be getting to your class, you have Arithmancy now, don't you?" They nodded. "Good. Run along." She walked away briskly, leaving James, Sirius, and Remus with a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

**James**

James was lying on a pouf in Divination, trying to keep his eyes open. Why hadn't he dropped this class again? He gave up and let his eyes close again. Ah, the sweet oblivion of-WHOMP. His eyes flew open as he sat up, bumping his head on the cabinet next to him. He looked around and saw Giselle throwing pillows at him. "What are you doing?" he hissed. She beckoned toward him. He looked at Professor Grenouille, who was busy showing Stephenson how the veins in his arm would actually show him his destiny, and crawled over to her. "What?" he asked.

"I noticed you falling asleep and I thought I should wake you up, so you don't fail," she said. "And partially so you could keep me company, because I'm really bored too. This class is so boring, I don't know why I elected to take it again."

"Ditto," James said. "I-" he was interrupted by Grenouille as he walked over to them. "Good, you've found yourselves partners," he said. "Scoot over, let me see your arm." James cast a meaningful look at Giselle and made room. He rolled up his sleeve and put his arm on the table. The professor grabbed it and brought it close to his eyes. "Ah, yes, I see. Mm hmm, it's precisely as I thought. Take a look." James bent down and looked at his veins. "Do you see that?" asked Grenouille, "That Y shape there?"

"No," replied James. Grenouille traced what looked like nothing on his arm. "That Y, there! You don't see that? Hmm, well, perhaps it's nothing, but it seems to me that you are going to be attacked by the Giant Squid this coming Friday. Rather worrisome, son. If I were you I wouldn't go out by the lake until Saturday, yes, Saturday should be fine." He peered up at James. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" James nodded but didn't know what to say. "Good!" The old man stood up and trotted over to the next table. James rolled his sleeves back up and looked at Giselle, who was snickering.

"Don't you dare go near the lake, Jamesie," she said, trying not to laugh. "Shut _up_," James said, but he was laughing as well. "Do you remember what he said to you last year? He said that you would be dead by this time this year and you got so scared!"

"I wasn't _really_ scared, and if I was, well he can be scary sometimes! Stop laughing at me!" She threw another pillow at him.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," he said, "Just stop throwing pillows at me."

"Deal," she said and they shook hands. They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and looked up to see Professor Grenouille glaring at them. James grabbed her arm and pulled up the sleeve, then pretended like he was examining it. Grenouille went back to the front of the class. "So, in closing, I hope all of you will abide by what I have told you, and I hope to see you here on Wednesday. If not, I will be very sorry but consider it your fault, as I have warned you. One roll of parchment on how the circulatory system is influenced by supernatural forces! Due next Monday. Class dismissed!"

**Lily**

Lily was exhausted. After a full day of classes, she'd only had an hour to do homework so far and she had Head Girl duties to do tonight. At least she had an hour and a half before dinner and an hour and a half after dinner to finish her homework. That _might_ be enough...if she didn't have any distractions.

"Lily!" she heard an eager voice say, snapping her out of her reverie. "What," she snapped, and turned around. It was James.

"Sorry, did I disturb you? Anyway, do you want to come to the library with me? Everyone else is going to the lake, but I'm not allow-I mean, it's too cold for me," he finished rather awkwardly.

"Er, sure," she said. "If you'll help me with my Transfiguration; McGonagall was really hard today. How does she think we're supposed to transfigure a quill into a toe after _one_ class?" They spent the next ten minutes discussing how everything McGonagall owned was tartan until they arrived at the library. Madame Pince, the vulture like librarian, was looking quite irritable today. "You two are my first students of this year. I just hope you won't get your nasty, oily little fingers all over my books." They assured her that they wouldn't, that, in fact they would open the books with magic and she calmed down a bit.

"Let's see, how about those armchairs over there? They look new."

"Yes, but they probably won't be as comfortable," Lily said, "The stuffing won't be as worn down and squashy." They chose the oldest, most threadbare looking couch they could find and sunk down into it. "Ahhhh, good choice Lily." Lily dumped her books onto the coffee table and opened _An Advanced Guide to Transfiguration _to page seven. "Here we are," she said. "I don't understand how to do it exactly, my toe always comes out looking mangled."

"Well, you have to do it from the inside out and from the bottom to the top." Lily shook her head. "See, you have to start from the bone marrow, then on to the bone, muscle, fascia, and finally to the skin and toenail. Get it?" James looked at her face and sighed. "Here." He whispered a stream of spells with a concentrated look on his face and slowly transfigured his quill into a toe. Where there should've been a foot, there were feather. "Well, it's not perfect, but there you are!"

"Wow, James, you're really good at this!" Lily said and then stopped. What was she doing? This was Potter,_ James _Potter, the boy she hated. He had ruined her friendship with Severus and hexed half the school, not to mention embarrassed her countless times. Now she was sitting in the library, alone with him, _complimenting_ him? Had she gone completely mad?

She looked up and saw James smiling at her, oblivious to what she was thinking. "Thanks, Lily," he said genuinely.

"Oh, you're welcome," she said and then got up hurriedly, packing her books back into her bag. "Wait, what's wrong? Where are you going?" he asked.

"I, er, just remembered I had to do something," she lied. "Thanks anyway James, I'll see you at dinner."

"Alright," he said in a confused tone, "See you later." She rushed out of the library, stopping only to show Madam Pince her hands, and walked up to the common room to finish her work.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**This is my first authors note(as you can tell). Please read and review! PLEASE review! I got 59 hits last time and only 1 review(thanks, StarzXandXMoon)! **

**Give me some suggestions? This is basically the first story I've ever written and I did it because I felt like I needed to write something, even though I hate**

**writing. But, lo and behold, it's turning out to be quite fun! Tell me what you think and please give me constructive criticism; god knows I need it. Plus, if**

**you have any suggestions, leave them in the review because I might take them. **

**I'm not updating until I get ten reviews! Come on guys, that's hardly any!**

**DesmondHume**


	3. Chapter 3: Regrets

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with Harry Potter. However, I did get my pomegranate tea, as well as some delicious darjeeling.

Chapter Three

**Rose**

It was 10 am on Tuesday morning, and Rose Waldorf was in Herbology. Professor Alfalfus was teaching them about the magical properties of Mooncalf dung. She blinked as something small and brown whizzed past her left ear.

"Now, Mooncalf dung can only be collected at the full moon, as you've probably learned from it's name. It has to be carefully picked up while wearing dragonhide gloves, as it is extremely temperamental around human hands. Do you all have your gloves? Not you, Alice? Here, borrow Potter's, he has an extra pair." James handed them over. "Now, where was I? Oh, that's right. Mooncalfs are very fond of eating bubotuber leaves, and although the pus is more harmful, the leaves can still wreak quite a bit of havoc upon our skin. Everyone, put on your gloves." Everyone put on their gloves. "Form a line around the..." Rose stopped listening as a slug pellet hit her right shoulderblade. "Aaaah!" she yelled, and turned around to find a pair of eyes looking directly at her. Sirius. "What the bloody hell did you do that for?" she asked.

"I've been trying to get your attention all morning! I almost hit you once; it hit Dawlish instead."

"Why did you have to throw slug pellets? Couldn't you have thrown something more savory, like ginger root?"

"All the ginger is next to you," Sirius pointed out. "Listen, did I freak you out yesterday or something? After I said I was checking you out, you just...ignored me for the rest of the day, and when we were doing homework I tried to talk to you but you acted like you didn't hear me." He took a minute to look at her. "Anyway, I'm really sorry if I did, but I stand by what I said." Rose sighed.

"You didn't freak me out Sirius, I had to get my essay. And by the lake yesterday, I honestly couldn't hear you over the noises Xeno was making." Sirius chuckled.

"Right? Although he really did sound like a mandrake, I almost died." It was Rose's turn to chuckle. "Really though? We're okay?"

"Yeah. We're fine." She smiled at Sirius as he went back to his place around the table.

"_That _was interesting," Lily said, "What exactly did he say to you yesterday?" Rose didn't answer for a minute as she walked over to the rather large pile of dung.

"We were talking and he was checking me out. He said he didn't regret it, either." Lily's eyes got really big. Rose sighed again. She knew Lily was analyzing and re-analyzing this in her head. Really, she _loved_ Lily to bits and pieces, but girls could be so annoying sometimes! Why did they have to go over everything boys said and take what they wanted from it? She supposed she was just a straightforward person. At least, that's what Giselle had always told her; that she wasn't good at metaphors or getting jokes. Her thoughts were interrupted as Lily said, "He thinks you're hot! He told you you were hot! I mean, who can blame him, really? You are." Rose didn't say anything. "He's not bad looking, either. I think you two should get together." _Now_ Rose said something.

"I don't know, Lily. I mean, of course he's good looking but that doesn't mean I'm going to jump on him. I don't know anything about him! It's the second day of Hogwarts, and this is about the fifth time we've spoken since the Sorting Hat." She paused as she dropped the dung into the regular soil. "Plus, you know how much experience I've had. Practically none at all! Sirius wouldn't want me when he could have someone else, someone more beautiful or someone...I don't know." She slammed another fistful of dung rather violently into the mixer. "Girls are all over him, he can have his pick." Lily looked at her with worried eyes.

"You're worried about that, Rose?" She looked up and sighed. "I don't know what I'm worried about. I'm just kind of stressed right now, I'm sure it will pass."

"How are...how are things at home?" Lily said timidly.

"Fine. Things are fine." Rose sighed and then looked up with a smile. "I'll be fine, Lily, let's just finish, okay?"

**James**

James finished scribbling down the last lines of his Potions essay as he sat on his bed. He held it up and quickly read through it, checking for any mistakes. Nope. None. He rolled up the parchment and put it away, looking through his pack to see if he had any more homework he might have forgotten about. That was easy to do. Today, however, he had done everything.

He slung his pack under the bed as Sirius and Remus walked into the dormitory, looking rather tired. Remus had just gotten his first detention _ever_, and it wasn't even his fault. Sirius had been messing around with Peeves, hiding under James' invisibility cloak and throwing books at people, when McGonagall caught them. Remus had been(unknowingly)next to Sirius, so she gave him detention as well. _Minnie was in a foul mood today_, James thought. He wondered if it could have anything to do with their conversation yesterday, or maybe just the fact that James called her Minnie again during Transfiguration. Yes, that was probably it.

He jumped off the bed and walked over to his friends. "So? How was it?" Remus shook his head and walked into the bathroom for a shower. He turned to Sirius. "The usual," Sirius said, "I must not be naughty. Ha. As if that's ever gonna happen!" He grinned a wolfish grin at James as he followed Remus. James had already taken a shower, so he went down to the common room where he saw Lily, looking out the window and petting her owl. James had never been fond of her owl, Lyla, but today he didn't even think about it as he went over to Lily. "Hi," he said when he got close. Lily jumped.

"Potter! You scared me!" Her hand went to her heart and her other hand went out to hit James.

"Is that a reflex of yours, hitting me?" He joked.

"Maybe. Although it's only you that I hit." James was confused. Why was she being mean to him again? He had thought they had gotten along well in the library, although she had left abruptly. "Well, it kind of hurts, so would you mind stopping? You have quite a backhand." Lily sighed.

"James, I'm sorry. You've never done anything wrong, I just...well, yesterday I realized I was having fun with you and that scared me. _I_ don't have fun with _you_. I'm supposed to hate you. I guess yesterday I realized that the only reason I hated you was because I needed someone to hate. And now I know that that person isn't you." She took a deep breath. "I promise to try not to be mean anymore and I promise to try and be friends, okay?" James didn't say anything. He couldn't believe that this was happening, that Lily Evans was actually saying something nice. For the past six years, it had all been words of rejection. This was going to take some getting used to.

He snapped out of it and said, "Okay. That should be interesting." Lily looked taken aback for a moment before he grinned and she realized he was messing around.

"Thanks." She lingered for a moment and then picked up her owl and started to walk away.

"Oh, and Lily?" She turned around. "I'm not going to give up on you." She blushed and opened her mouth, then closed it and ran up the dormitory steps with a flash of red hair. James smiled as he thought about what she had said. Maybe he had a chance after all.

**Authors Note:**

**Sorry, I know this chapter is reaaaaally short! But I just came back from a surprise trip from Orlando Florida where I went(drumrolls, please)to the Universal Studios Harry Potter theme park! IT WAS AMAZING! I took about 700 pictures of everything, and I drank butterbeer, and I ate at the Three Broomsticks, and I bought practically everything from Honeydukes, and a bunch of stuff from Zonkos! It's so cool, I have a receipt that says Zonkos on it! Oh, the joy. Anyway, I'm also going out of town until Sunday tomorrow morning so the only time I had to do this was a couple of hours today. I will update as soon as I can, probably around Saturday or Sunday of next week. **

**Please review, it really encourages me to write faster AND I updated even though I only got 5 reviews. :'( **

**DesmondHume**

**P.S. There is someone playing a flute outside my window...what?**


	4. Chapter 4: Imagine

This will be my last disclaimer unless I'm feeling particularly witty.

Disclaimer: I do not own and am in no way affiliated with Harry Potter and/or J.K. Rowling. I only own the characters, situations, and everything else that I create[d] myself.

* * *

Chapter 4

**Giselle**

"..._and I love you guys and can't wait to see you during break,_" Giselle wrote,_ "Love, Giselle." _ Giselle finished her letter and held it away from her face for a minute, looking to see if she had forgotten to write anything. She hadn't. She smacked her lips and kissed the parchment at the bottom, then wiped off her lipstick. She and her sister had always done that, although Sarah usually used neon green lipstick. Giselle smiled fondly and rolled it up, tying it onto Rose's owl.

As she was turning a corner on the way to the Owlery, she bumped into something. "Oof!" she said as someone else said, "Ow! Lumos!" The light revealed Jack Ginzburg standing before her, rubbing his nose and squinting down.

"Jack! Hey, sorry, I should've been more careful...I didn't want to light up my wand because I didn't want Lily to catch me-"

"It's fine," he chuckled. "Lily can definitely be scary sometimes; I remember one time she caught me after curfew and I was in detention for a week." She laughed as he picked up Rose's owl, Hera, who was looking haughtily at her as if to say "this would've never happened if _Rose_ were here." "Thanks," she said and took Hera into her arms.

"No problem." He smiled at her and asked, "Were you going to the Owlery?" She nodded and he said, "Can I come with you? I have to mail something too, but I don't have an owl."

"Yeah, sure!" she said and they resumed walking, discussing their summers.

When they had finished with their post, they ran back to the common room and said goodnight. "Goodnight Giselle, see you tomorrow at breakfast."

"Night, Jack," she smiled and began climbing the steps to the girl's dormitory.

Jack and Giselle had been friends since the beginning of 5th year, but nothing special; not particularly close. All she really knew about him was that his father was a muggleborn and he was from London. They had talked about stuff going on in Hogwarts but not much else. However...Giselle noticed for the first time how good looking he was. With just-needing-to-be-cut brown hair, brown eyes, his height, and his weight, he was definitely not bad. Maybe she should-but no. How could she even be thinking like this, with all she had gone through last year? Did she want to hurt herself again? She shuddered inwardly and opened the door to the dormitory, saying goodnight to Rose and hopping in bed. Whatever. Who needed boys? All they caused was pain and all they wanted was a good time. Well, she wasn't going to fall for it again. She was going to finish 7th year and graduate with top N.E.W.T. scores, no drama. Besides, she was just being silly...poor Jack. If he knew what she was thinking about him he would surely be freaked out. It was better to be friends, really.

She stopped analyzing her non-existent love life and closed her eyes.

**Lily**

Lily was daydreaming on a rather grotesque statue of a gargoyle, while shirking her Head Girl responsibilities. It had been a quiet night anyway, and she needed some time to think. About James. It seemed like the last week had been mostly spent by thinking about James. James. She was glad she'd decided to be friends, as she had a lot of fun with him in Potions class on Thursday. Slughorn had spent most of the class praising Lily's every move, so much in fact that her potion had turned out a vile green color instead of a rich mahogany because he was distracting her. Oh well, he had still given her an O, as well as invited them to a Slug Club party on Saturday night. She would probably go, although James had wanted her to go with him. Well, what harm could it do anyway? They were friends now, and she had friend duties to fulfill.

She was interrupted as the clock towers rang, announcing that it was 11:00. She could go back to the tower now. Homework, shower, then her dormitory was having a 'date'. They usually did this once a week; everyone got together and played muggle board games(Eloise brought them, she was half blood), chatted, painted nails and did facials. Rose usually participated, she pretended she didn't like all this 'girl rubbish' but Lily knew she did. At least the nails and board games part, she probably didn't like the gossiping. And facials were vital to a girl's health, so of course she did that.

She smiled thinking of her friend and entered the common room, lying down on her favorite chair(extra squashy!)and did the last paragraph of her Charms homework. Then she ran upstairs, pausing only to say hello, and took a quick shower. When she was done she got dressed and walked out of the bathroom, sitting cross legged on the bed. Bette looked up.

"Hey Lil," she said. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Lily responded and slung her wet red hair over her shoulder. Giselle walked over to her toiletries and got out her face mask cream as Eloise got the board games. They reconvened in the middle of the dorm on the floor. Eloise had brought Boggle, Scrabble, Othello, and Monopoly. Lily groaned. "You brought Monopoly? Do you _remember _how Rose got with that last time? Days, Eloise, days!"

"I knowww," she complained, "But she blackmailed me." She held up a large tin of Pepper Imps. Rose smiled triumphantly and grabbed the Monopoly board. Lily sighed and inched over to Giselle, taking the tube of face mask and slathering it on. "Are you okay Giselle? You seemed a little weird last night; I thought it was because you were sneaking around but then Rose told me you were rather stand-offish at dinner today."

"Oh, that. Yeah, sorry! I was _exhausted._..Madame Pomfrey kept me up for a while on Tuesday night and I never caught up on the sleep." She smiled reassuringly at Lily. Giselle helped out in the Hospital Wing every Tuesday at 7:30; she wanted to be a healer. Her mother was a healer and her father was a doctor, which was the equivalent in the muggle world.

"Okay. If you say so..." Lily wasn't so sure. Giselle could be secretive sometimes, but she usually came out with it. Lily would just give her some time.

She sat down next to Bette, as her and Bette's favorite game was Boggle. They usually did best-out-of-thirty. "Ready?" She asked as she took out the mini hourglass.

"Yes! Bring it _on_," Bette said. She shook the Boggle set and made sure all the pieces were lying flat, and they started.

An hour and a half later, it was one in the morning and she was exhausted, not to mention beaten. Flattened. "Sorry," Bette grimaced.

"It's okay. I'm sure I'll beat you next time." Lily grinned impishly at her and they got up. Everyone else was already in bed, except of course Rose, who was playing Monopoly with herself. Lily stared at her for a minute before heading off to the bathroom to wash the face mask off and get ready for bed. As she came out, she checked her nails for any nicks in the paint and walked over to her friend.

"Rose, you really should get to bed," she said. Rose sighed.

"I know, I know but I love Monopoly! I can't sleep if I don't finish it!" She looked up and asked brightly, "Will you play with me?"

"_No_," Lily said firmly. "_You_ are going to _bed_. Now. Do you want to be tired tomorrow? It's Slug Club Saturday night!"

"Never," Rose said darkly.

"Oh, come on. You know you want to go! Think of the food, Rose." Rose reconsidered for a minute. "Fine. But you have to be my date!"

"Um, actually I was gonna go with James." Lily said quickly, "But I'll cancel if you want! I can go with you, I mean it's fine. Completely fine." Rose sighed and said, "No, you should go with the poor boy. But is this a date type thing? Because you usually tell me about this stuff."

"No, not a date. Just two friends, going to a party. That's all." She blushed slightly as Rose raised an eyebrow. "Night, Rose."

"Night." Lily climbed in bed. After all, it _was_ just as friends. Besides, no matter who she went with, it was bound to be boring. The Slug Club was always boring; Giselle didn't even go any more. Oh well. Like she had told Rose, the food always was first class and there was a lot of spiced pumpkin juice. She rolled over and closed her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

O.o.O

It was Saturday night, and Lily and Rose were getting ready for the party. After a long sleep, late breakfast, and a day of homework, Lily was ready to relax at the party, and Rose had decided to go with Sirius and Remus.

"I have _nothing_ to wear!" Lily complained. "Seriously, nothing!"

"Oh, don't be an idiot, Lily. Of course you have stuff to wear. Come here." She walked over to Rose and Rose held up a dress. "What about this?" It was a deep purple and had a cutout in the back. The front had a slight v-neck.

"Wow, I forgot I had that! It's been so long!" She took the dress and put it on with red pumps and a gold rope necklace.

"Wo-ow," Rose breathed when she came out. "You look _so_ beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself, Rose," she said. Rose was wearing a black satin dress. The neck was pretty high, but the skin was in the back. It curved around her ribcage until it came to a stop at the small of her back. She was wearing a gold cuff and her favorite diamond earrings.

Rose blushed. "Thanks, Lily." They took another moment to take each other in and then Lily suggested actually going downstairs. "Yeah, that would be a good idea," Rose laughed. They walked down the stairs. James was standing by the couch in his best dress robes. His mouth dropped when they came into eyesight, and so did Sirius' and Remus'. "Lily, you look-" He started over. "I've never seen someone so-" He took a deep breath. "Wow, Lily." It was Lily's turn to blush. "Erm...shall we go then?"

"Yeah," said Remus. "If we don't hurry we're going to be late." They went out of the portrait hole (the Fat Lady said, "Well, aren't we looking spiffy!") and started down the hall. James grabbed her arm and pulled her next to him, a good fifteen feet away from everyone else.

"Lily, you look beautiful. I mean it, _really_ beautiful." He smiled his slightly crooked smile and made her stomach flop.

"Th-thanks James," she stuttered, "You look rather dashing as well." They smiled at each other and caught up to the rest of the group, where Rose and Remus were having a heated discussion about nonverbal spells. "Remus, if you _say_ them then you're giving them a heads up, no matter how slight! Think about it! If you're in battle, they would just block it or send something worse back."

"Yes, but if you're not very good at it then you're better off saying it aloud!"

"Ugh," Rose huffed. Sirius intervened, "Guys, it doesn't really matter. Look, there's the room! See?" He pushed them toward the party and Lily let a breath out. "Wow." The room was filled with paper lanterns and floating candles, and there was a big banner that said: 1977 Annual Welcome Party! Happy First Term!

"Want some juice?" James asked. Lily looked around. "What?"

"Want some juice," he repeated. "It's pumpkin juice, your favorite."

"Oh, sure! Thanks, I'll get us a table." James made his way across the dance floor and Lily edged through the crowd, trying to make sure nothing got on her dress. She found a mostly empty table and put her clutch down. Rose, Sirius and Remus followed her and sat on the chairs. James came back and handed her the pumpkin juice, then bowed. "Milady." Lily blushed and took it. "Thanks." She looked into her glass and was hit with the most wonderful smell. Nutmeg, cardamom, and was that a hint of ginger? She took a sip. Yeah, it was definitely ginger. "Yum." She put the glass on the table and turned to talk to James when she felt a nudge on her shoulder. It was Professor Slughorn.

"Lily!" He smiled genially at her while brushing his sugarcoated fingers on his tuxedo. "How are you liking the party? So good to see you outside of Potions, although I must say you did particularly well last class!" James sniggered and she shot him a look.

"The party is wonderful, although we only just got here. The pumpkin juice is especially delicious!" He bobbed his head and said, "That's right, m'girl. I make it differently every year. I know how much people like it!" The song 'Imagine' came on the gramophone and Slughorn winked at Lily. "I'm sure you'll want to be dancing with your boyfriend. And, if I may say so, it's about time!" He slid lithely through the crowd before Lily could correct him. "I-"

"Lily, it's okay," James laughed. "I know we're not together." he grinned, "Yet." Lily tsk tsked at him and they went onto the floor.

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

"I love this song," James said. He wrapped his arms around her waist. Lily put her arms around his neck as her stomach fluttered again.

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

**James**

James sighed contentedly as Lily danced with him. Although though they were just friends, he couldn't help but feel the familiar happiness of knowing that, even for a moment, Lily was there. He grasped her more tightly and felt her stiffen. "Sorry," he muttered. _Well, she's not ready to admit it yet,_ he thought. _She's not ready to admit that she's falling in love with me._

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

**Rose**

Rose was watching James and Lily on the dance floor. Lily looked so full of guilty pleasure it was comical. "Sirius, look," she said and Sirius glanced over at them.

"Yeah, I saw. Looks like old Jamesie is heating things up with Lily." He was silent for a moment as his gaze became more serious. "I've always known that he's had really deep feelings for her. Even with all of his joking and games, I can see it in his eyes." Rose nodded.

"Me too. I think everyone else can as well. Why she won't just give him a chance I don't understand! We were talking last night and she said she was going with James, but she made it very clear that it wasn't a date."

"D'you know that James has promised himself to make her fall in love with him this year?" Rose raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, well he did. Then again, he promised in fourth year to kiss her and we all know how that turned out." They laughed as they remembered. James had kissed her under the mistletoe on Christmas and Lily punched him so hard she broke his glasses and nose.

"Hey, guys," Remus walked up.

"Hey Rem, how was the food?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, it was amazing. You need to try some. And there's this witch over there that's giving the most _interesting _talk about chimaeras! Did you know that Dai Llewellyn was killed by one?" He walked away before either of them could respond.

"Actually, I did know that," Rose said. "I-"

"Do you want to dance, Rose?" Sirius asked out of the blue. Rose was taken aback.

"What?"

"Dance. Like dancing." Sirius chuckled at himself.

"Erm...yeah. Yes." Rose blushed. Sirius grinned and leapt up, taking her hand and leading her on the dance floor. They passed a very amorous couple snogging each other like there was no tomorrow. "Eew," Rose muttered under her breath.

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

They began to dance, swaying to the music. Rose was surprised at how much she was enjoying herself, not in the least because she couldn't dance for her life. She was very clumsy, and usually had bruises of some sort on her legs and sometimes her arms. But dancing with Sirius was different, even fun. She leaned her head up against his chest and smiled.

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

* * *

Authors Note: Song: Imagine by John Lennon. Amazing.

I apologize for this chapter. I was a little blocked and I have NO idea how to write Giselle! None! I hope I'll get better at it...

I have a question for you guys. I said in the first chapter that Remus and Lily were Head Boy and Girl, but in the books it's actually James. I want to stick to the books but I have so much planned for Remus and Lily! Tell me what you think; does it bother you?

Please read and review. Please review. I can't even tell you how much it brightens up my day! And like I said last chapter, it really does encourage me to write faster! See, I updated 4 days early!

Not updating til I get six reviews.

DesmondHume


	5. 5: Tea, Troubles and Transfiguration

Chapter 5

**Lily**

Lily woke up on Sunday morning feeling extremely happy, although she couldn't remember why. She blinked as last night's memories came flooding back to her. The party, with Slughorn's _divine _ pumpkin juice, the music, and how that one muggle song somehow made it special, and James, his hair delightfully tousled while they danced. She yawned and swung her legs over the side of the bed, glancing at the clock. It was 12:30. She leapt up and ran to Rose's bed, shaking her awake, then ran to Giselle's, who was already up.

"What?" Rose barked.

"It's 12:30! We've been asleep for ten hours!"

"Who cares?" Rose grumbled and fell back down, pulling the covers over her head.

"I care! We're going to miss lunch, which has already started-Giz, wait for me!" Lily screeched as she brushed her hair. "I, unlike you, have to think about this stuff because I'm Head-"

"Lily, she's already asleep," Giselle said. She looked at Rose who, sure enough, was lightly snoring. Lily shook her head and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she came out, she grabbed her sweater and said, "Let's go. Thanks for waiting." As they entered the common room, Bette said, "Oh good! You're up. I was just about to come and wake you guys up." They thanked her and continued on to the Great Hall. There was only one other person at the Gryffindor table; Remus Lupin. He was yawning extremely wide. "Haha, Giselle, remember when you-" She looked around. "Giselle?" Giselle was nowhere to be found. By this time Remus had caught sight of her.

"Hey! Lily!" He waved her over.

"Oh, hey Remus. Have you seen Giselle? She was just here!"

"Yeah, I saw her turn right just as soon as you came in."

"That's weird." She had been acting _very_ weird lately. Lily made a mental note to corner her the next chance she got.

"Yeah. So how's it going?" Remus asked, and poured some coffee. "Here, you look like you need this." He passed it to her.

"Thanks. It's going good. Nothing new since last night," she smiled. "Where are the others? Still sleeping, I expect?"

"Well, Sirius is but James is at Quidditch tryouts."

"Oh _yeah_, I forgot about that! What time did he have to get up?" Lily asked as she began enthusiastically upon her bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.

"About 9:30. James is captain, so he makes his own hours." Lily nodded. "So what did you think of the party last night?" She asked.

"Very interesting." Lily smiled. From what she knew about Remus so far, he could always find a way to make anything into a learning experience. He and Rose had that in common. Although Lily was incredible smart, Rose was a genius. Top of every class except for Potions, where she was second to Lily.

"What did you think?" Remus cut into her thoughts.

"Really fun! I especially enjoyed the fairy show Slughorn did at the end, they were just beautiful."

"Yeah, that was nice." They spent the rest of 'breakfast' talking about the party and then Remus said, "I think I'll go to the library to finish a little extra homework. Want to come?"

"Oh-thanks Remus, but I've finished mine. I'm gonna hunt down Giselle. See you later!"

"Bye," he smiled and walked away, lugging his books along behind him.

**James**

James ran his hands through his hair as he washed the grime out. Although this had been an exhausting Quidditch practice, he was happy because it had turned out extremely well. He'd made some great finds, and he was _quite _sure that this would be the year they'd win the Quidditch Cup. He wouldn't fail his team.

He stepped out of the shower and got dressed, then walked back up to the castle. Maybe he could find Remus, who was most likely in the library studying for that Transfiguration quiz on Tuesday, which he could use some brushing up on. He smiled thinking of the last time he had been in the library. Perhaps he wouldn't study after all and he would find Lily; after all, the quiz was on _Tuesday. _He had plenty of time to get ready for it.

Walking past the corridor to the Prefect's bathroom, he heard what sounded like somebody crying. He turned around and poked his head past the wall. "Giselle?" He said, surprised. "Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened?" He ran to her side as she looked up.

"Oh, god-James. I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot-look, I'm fine." He stared at her.

"You don't _look_ fine, and you're crying. Tell me what's wrong, or I'm gonna go get Lily and-"

"Okay, okay." She wiped her face and rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine, really. It's just...trouble at home."

"Oh." James kind of knew how those things went. Whenever his parents fought, he felt like he would do anything to make it stop. Fortunately this didn't happen very often at all. "Well...if you want to talk about it, just let me know."

"Thanks." She smiled halfheartedly. "I'll be alright, James. I just need to be alone for a while, okay?"

"Okay."

"Oh, and James?" He turned around. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? For me." He reluctantly agreed, patted her on the back and went back down the hall. He turned around. Where in the bloody hell had he been going anyway? He shook his head and went to the Great Hall to see if they were having tea. They were. He grabbed a muffin, a scone, a cup of coffee, and a cauldron cake and sat down. Just as he got comfortable, he remembered what he was going to do. _Damn it!_ he thought. _Lily!_ He snarfed down the scone, downed his coffee in one and ran up to the Gryffindor common room. Sure enough, Lily was there, throwing her hands up intermittently and walking around in circles, talking to herself.

"Erm...Lily, what are you doing?" She jumped, looking startled.

"Nothing. I'm just rather worried and annoyed because I looked everywhere and I can't find Giselle! She disappeared right as we were going in for lunch and it's been like, four hours." She took a deep breath.

James didn't quite know what to do. Should he tell her that he saw Giselle, or would that be breaking his promise? He didn't have to tell her that she was crying, or what she was crying about. But James felt that it would somehow still be a betrayal. He would change the subject to homework; Lily always liked to talk about that.

"Where's Remus? Off doing homework I expect?"

"Yes, he's in the library, at least he was when I last saw him." She sighed again. "We should probably go to. I said I didn't have any homework left, but I'd forgotten about that Transfiguration test, which I have _not_ studied for. Do you want to come with me?" James lit up.

"I would love to. I also need to study; I've been at Quidditch all day."

"Oh, that's right! How was it?" He spent the walk up to the library telling her about his new team, about his insane dive to catch the snitch, and how he was most positively sure they would win this year. As soon as they entered the library Madame Pince glared at them. "Oh, it's you two is it? The dynamic duo. Well, your little friend is over there and I expect you'll want to be joining him." She took a long sniff. "Just be aware that I will be watching. Remember what I said last time, and I will expect you to pay for any damage done to my books, but if that happens, I assure you it will not. Be pleasant." She harumphed and glided away. Lily blinked and they walked over to Remus, who was looking flustered.

"Oh, hi you guys. How was Quidditch practice?" Before James could say anything Remus rambled on. "Anyway, I really need help with this." He passed the book over to Lily, who looked at it and said, "I think you should get James' help on this. He's very good." She smiled brightly at him and handed him the book.

* * *

I have a little math problem for you.

266 hits + 2 reviews = lousy, short chapter + unhappy author

I think that speaks in and of itself.

**DesmondHume**


	6. Chapter 6: We Might As Well Be Strangers

Chapter 6

**James**

James walked back from the library feeling rather pleased with himself. Lily had complimented him a couple more times and gave him all the marzipan flavored Bertie Botts(his favorite...at least that was what he told people-his _real_ favorite was pierogi, but the last time he had told someone they had laughed at him for weeks). It was getting close to dinner time so he headed back to the common room, passing a rather odd shaped lump. Was it a blanket? He lifted it up and Peeves jumped out at him. "Well, if it isn't ickle Potter," he sneered, "Why do you look so pleased? I suppose you've been pranking people again, have you? Listen," he said, leaning in a bit, his voice getting softer, "If you wanted to play a trick on that slimy Snake child, I wouldn't say no."

"First of all, it's _Snape_, and second of all, I'm gonna have to pass. I'm trying not to do that anymore, at least not to him." Peeves chucked a ball of gillyweed at him and went cackling down the hall with a, 'you'll regret it Potter!'. James supposed he would, but oh well. He tentatively scraped the gillyweed off his pants while mentally cursing Peeves. Last year Peeves hid in in McGonagall's quarters for a solid week, throwing frog intestines at her while she slept.

He reached his dormitory(this would be his third pair of clothes that day)and changed into his last pair of robes. Hopefully the house-elves would be doing laundry soon, and hopefully they would be having pierogi for dinner. They served that sometimes.

He walked to the Great Hall and sat down next to Giselle. "Hey," he said. "You alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." She smiled warmly at him. "Listen, you didn't tell Lily or anyone about earlier, right?"

"No...but I think you should, Giselle. Lily seems mad, but she's genuinely worried about you and you should have someone to talk to." He spooned some shepherds pie onto his plate-_almost as good_, he thought. Giselle sighed patiently.

"I know, James. Let's talk about something else, okay? Where're Sirius and Remus? And Rose, for that matter?" She took a huge bite of a lamb chop and licked her lips, apparently relishing the taste. James thought for a moment.

"Well, Sirius is probably looking in a mirror somewhere, Remus is coming down from the library with Lily, and you would know better than I would where Rose is."

"True enough. Well, Rose never skips meals so we'll see her soon," she grinned. "Oh, look, here they are now." Rose and Sirius were coming through the door, Lily and Remus close behind them. "Where've you been? I haven't seen you since this morning, Giselle! Don't you know how worried I've been? You know, you can't just-come on," Lily hissed, "you're coming with me." She grabbed her arm and led her out of the Great Hall, Giselle complaining that she hadn't even finished her lamb chop. James raised his eyebrows at Rose as she smirked and sat across from him. Remus sat down next to Rose, and Sirius glared at him, sitting down next to James. "How was Quidditch, mate? I haven't seen you all day!"

"Quidditch was great, thanks," he said grinning. "Really fun! I missed flying with an actual team-don't get me wrong, it was great with you, but there just something about being out there in the open sky that's so exhilarating! It's like no one can touch you and no matter what you do, it'll all work out. Know what I mean?" He looked around at everyone's blank faces. "Ah, never mind. It was fun. Where've you been?" He watched Sirius chomping enthusiastically at his pie and smiled.

"Well, I slept late and went down to the kitchens, the house-elves have got the greatest stuff in there! Chocolate gateau, peppermint humbugs, custard tart-even trifle, which they usually don't have except for Christmas! Yes, don't worry, I brought some to the common room, I figured it would be better than what they're gonna serve for dessert tonight."

"Padfoot, I don't think anyone was actually worried," said Remus, rolling his eyes. "You eat way too much; it's a miracle you're not fat."

"Yes, Moony, well I _am_ miraculous, aren't I?" Sirius sighed and grinned impishly. He leaned across the table and took one of Remus' roasted potatoes with a 'thanks', and smacked his lips. James turned to Rose.

"Where were you, then?" he asked.

"I was...I was around," she said mysteriously.

"Okay? Gonna tell me where around is, then?"

"No."

Girls were strange.

**Lily**

"Ow, Lily-quit dragging me like that! Oh my god, chill out!" Giselle said furiously. "Come on, Lily! Jeez, what the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

"What the hell is wrong with _me_?" Lily scoffed. "You can't just abandon people like that! And besides this morning, what's gotten into you? You hardly talk to us anymore. Did we do something wrong? It's only been a week since we've gotten here! Is that really enough time for you to change?" Lily's eyes tightened. "Is this about a boy?"

Giselle gave a somewhat mad laugh. "A boy? You think this is about a boy? Lily, it's not just about a boy, it's about _the _boy!" she hissed. "He messed me up more than you know and I just-" she took a deep breath, "haven't gotten over it yet. And anyways, that's only part of the problem. I feel like my life is falling apart. My mother is-well, you know how she is. She can't stand what's happening to my father. And it's seventh year and we have N.E.W.T.s, and it's so stressful. Which you know, because you're doing it too." She smoothed her hair and wiped her cheek. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay? I'm...not good at handling stuff. Not as good as you, anyway. And you're my _best _friend and I never want to lose you. You're not doing anything wrong. But this isn't about you, okay? I have things going on and I just need time to sort them out." She let out a breath, and Lily wrapped her into a tight hug.

Lily didn't know what to say. How could she have been so selfish and blind? Of _course_ this wasn't about her. Giselle's life caught on fire last year, and here she was, burning.

She could feel Giselle clinging onto her and she held on tighter. "I'm so sorry, Giz. I didn't mean to be insensitive. I just miss you a lot." She pulled away and looked at her eyes. "And when you need to talk, you come to me and Rose, okay? Because we love you more than you know. No matter what." She smiled reassuringly. Giselle sniffed.

"Okay. I love you too. I'm sorry, Lily."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Forget it." Giselle nodded and they broke apart, both of them feeling better.

**Sirius**

Sirius was lying in his bed, not able to sleep. He rolled over and looked at his clock. 3:29. He waited until it said 3:30, then heaved a sigh and got out of his bed, pausing to shake his leg. As he made his way downstairs, he noticed that it was already starting to get light outside. He paused for a moment as he heard a huge crash and a yell from somewhere in the common room, and hurriedly drew his wand as he rushed through the door. "What the-_Rose?_" he said, startled. "What's going on? Why are you all covered in...what is that, bird droppings?" For Rose was standing there, brown from head to toe, glaring furiously at a ginger and brown owl.

"No, it's not! She just flew in at me from the window, and dropped it on me-it's for my mother, she's 38 tomorrow, and she loves this hot chocolate, special from Honeydukes, and since we haven't been there yet it's not like I could just buy some-Sirius, who cares what the hell it is? Just get it off!" she screeched.

"Oh, right!" He jumped over the couch and pointed his wand at her. "_Tergeo_!" The chocolate zoomed off her and into his wand; Rose looked very put out as she picked up her owl and sighed. The owl clicked it's beak and promptly passed out.

"Shit," she cursed. "I have to take her to the Owlery." She turned to him. "Want to come with me?"

"Oh, er," he cleared his throat, "Sure? Why not?" He walked over to her and offered to hold the owl. "What's her name?" he asked as they left the common room, the Fat Lady passed out in her chair.

"Hera," she said a bit more happily. "Her name is Hera."

"Greek goddess?" he asked, confused. "Of marriage?" She turned to him, surprised.

"You know that stuff? How?"

"My broth-someone I used to know is really into that stuff," he corrected himself quickly. He threw her a glance to see if she'd noticed, but it seemed she hadn't.

"Oh. Well, Lily named her, she's into all that crap." She sighed. "Used to like Divination, too, but I made her see sense when Grenouille showed up. She thinks he's mad. Which he is, really." He nodded and smiled.

"Wait, aren't you in Divination?" he asked.

"No...I was going to be, but I went to McGonagall and asked her to change my course schedule. I just couldn't do it another year, it was bad enough last year. I'm sure you know the feeling." She smiled up at him, then gasped as Hera came to life with a start and pecked Sirius in the elbow.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, and Rose grabbed her owl out of his arms.

"I'm so sorry! Here, we can go to the Hospital Wing...we're almost there," she said.

"It's nothing, it's just a cut. I've had much worse than this before." he reminded himself bracingly as he experienced a blinding flash of pain. "Ow," he muttered. He had, of course, had much worse than this before but not in such a delicate spot as his elbow, which was now gushing blood, and he started to feel faint. "Okay, maybe we should go," he decided. Rose nodded, embarrassed, and she dashed into the Owlery, threw Hera inside, and dashed back out.

"Ready!" she said and they walked to the Hospital Wing, him feeling rather embarrassed and her looking that way. "You know, if Giselle were here, she could've fixed it for you. She's training to be a healer-"

"Rose, what were you even doing in the common room at three thirty in the morning? You do realize what time it was, right? And we're not allowed out of the dormitory this late at night, or rather, this early in the morning," he added rather lamely. She sighed yet again.

"I know. But I couldn't sleep, so I went down to read my book, and then Hera was there, and then you were there, and there was no point in sitting. I wanted to go on a walk," she stated.

"At three thirty A.M.?" he asked. She nodded and opened the door for him. "I think you're an insomniac or something," he proposed.

"What? No, I don't have insomnia. I just...I don't know, I couldn't sleep. Madam Pomfrey!" she called out, and the door opened moments later with a bang.

"What is it? What's wrong?" She gave Sirius the once over and said, "Sirius, why are you all covered in blood? Was it R-"

"No!" he interjected as loudly as he could. "No, it wasn't my, er, rat. It was Rose's owl; she nipped me and it must've gone in deeper than I originally thought," he said, glaring at Madam Pomfrey and then jerking his head at Rose. She looked over to her, startled.

"Oh, Miss Waldorf, I didn't see you there." She bustled over to them and pulled up his sleeve, pausing to flick her wand at the ceiling to turn the lights on. "Go over there and sit on that bed," she commanded. Sirius did as he was told. "And Miss Waldorf, you can go back to your dormitory, I'm sure you need to sleep and Sirius has ligaments to attach. You might want to think about getting that owl tamed," she said, looking up from her medicine cabinet sternly.

"It wasn't her fault, it was her owl. That thing is mad." Rose looked at him reproachfully and opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. "You're right, I probably should...are you sure you don't want me to stay?" He told her he was sure and smiled reassuringly.

"I'll be fine, Rose. Like I said, I've had much worse." She crinkled her eyebrows.

"Okay...well if you're sure...feel better, okay? And I'm really sorry," she apologized again. He grinned at her. "Thanks." She walked out the door, looking worriedly over her shoulder, and he felt an odd pang that had nothing to do with his arm. "Hey Rose!" he called, and she walked back in. "Yeah?"

"Where were you all day?" She grinned mischievously and walked back out. "Bye, Sirius." He chuckled.

"Ouch!" He was brought back to reality with a twang of pain, and Madam Pomfrey said, "Sorry, dear, but what did you expect?"


	7. Chapter 7:Dreams and a Touch of Reality

Chapter 7

**Lily**

Lily woke up on Wednesday morning with a jolt. She had been dreaming about something ...what was it? She didn't remember much, but there was a boy, about her age, with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. He looked a lot like James, except for the eyes...was this a random dream person, or somebody she had met? Well, surely she would remember someone like that. She was pretty certain that lightning bolt scars were few and far between.

She shook her head and forgot about the whole thing for a long time.

**Sirius**

_Sirius smiled at Rose from across the room. She smiled back and got up, but turned around and walked out, her long blonde ponytail swinging behind her. With each step she took, his stomach seemed to drop lower and lower. Where was she going? He just had to know. He got up and ran towards her, his heart beating furiously against his chest, but something was wrong. Why weren't his feet moving anymore? Why was the common room fading? He looked around, acclimating himself to his new surroundings. He seemed to be in a cavernous room with black floors and walls, and a set of french doors with light coming through the windows. He walked slowly towards them, his sense of safety ebbing away and fear taking hold. Something was through those doors, something bad._

_ He reached them, but he could not go through. Whatever was in there should be left alone. Some things should not be seen. Some things should not be felt. _

_ He turned around and walked away._

**James**

James lied in bed, daydreaming about Lily.

_He and Lily were on the castle grounds, by the big beech tree. They were sitting, talking, and she was leaning up against his legs. Every so often she would smile up at him and warmth would spread through his body, spreading until he thought he would burst. He stroked her silky smooth hair and they sat in silence for a while. The bell rang and she stood up, stretching like a cat, her shirt riding up a little and the moonlight shining on her velvety skin. "James," she whispered and bent down to kiss him._

James opened his eyes, slightly troubled. He loved Lily, and he knew that. But was she ever going to love him back? The daydream was wonderful, but that was just it. It was a fantasy.

**Giselle**

_Giselle screamed as he watched her run up the stairs, laughing as her foot sunk into one of them. He walked slowly, menacingly up the stairs as she tried desperately to free herself. "Are you scared?" he asked, only a few feet away from her. She didn't answer, just pulled harder at her foot, tears running down her face. "Are you scared of me? Do you want me to stop?" She whimpered as he reached her, a feeling of dread coursing through her body as he pulled out his wand, fingering it lovingly. He put his face right next to hers and she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. "I'm not going to stop. I'm never going to stop." He ripped off her shirt and she- _

"NO!"She woke up, gasping."_Muffliato,_" she whispered and tried to calm down, her breaths coming faster than they ever had. She couldn't do this to herself. She was not allowed to think about it. But she remembered the feel of his hands on her skin and she gave up, sobbing into her pillow.

**Rose**

_Rose was four years old again, swinging in the yard. The feel of the breeze, the rush of adrenaline as she went so high-it was ecstasy. This was living. If only it could go on forever, which, in her four-year-old mind, it could. But she heard her mom calling her in for dinner and she jumped off, soaring through the air. She ran into the house, smelling the garlic bread and warm tomato soup. Her mother had made her favorite meal!_ _She sat down and brought the fork up to her mouth-_

when she woke up. She stretched and yawned. If only things could be as simple as they used to be, when all it took was a swing and some food to make life good again. Little did she know that life was about to get better than she'd ever imagined.

**Remus**

Remus lie on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, panting. It had been his hardest night since his first year. He'd spent the night in terror that he was going to break, ignore the soothing effects of the Wolfsbane potion and run away to hunt. But he'd managed to control himself. Padfoot and James hadn't been there to calm him down, so he'd had to think of them and how disappointed they would be. And it wouldn't just be them he'd disappoint. Professor Dumbledore, his parents, and most of all, himself. He would never forgive himself if he turned someone into...well, a monster.

He felt the familiar sense of low self-worth as he got up, covered in a thin film of sweat. He would just have to resign himself to a life without love. How could he ever get close to someone, being what he was? He would just hurt them in the end.

Placing his hand on the tip of his wand, he promised himself to never, ever hurt anybody ever again.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Oh my goddd, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter! I know, I'm terrible, but I just haven't had any spare time whatsoever. I promise that the next chapter will be long and juicy, like my previous ones, but it might take a while.

On another note, who's seen Harry Potter? I've seen it twice already! What did you guys think of the changes (there were hardly _any_, even in the lines which I thought was fabulous!) ? What was your favorite scene? I have three-the reading of The Three Brothers, Harry and Hermione dancing, and the very end of the movie with Voldemort and Dumbledore's grave. I thought this was the best movie yet. Can't wait for the next one!

As usual, review! I only got two for my last chapter, and I know that I said I was going to write with or without reviews (which is still true) but, as I keep saying, it takes a lot less time for me to update, and it makes my day. So please review! I think this has been one of my best (although shortest) chapters yet.

**DesmondHume**


	8. Chapter 8: Knights of Cydonia

Chapter 8

**Remus**

Remus shrunk back into the common room, looking gristly and exhausted. He had spent most of the night in the Shrieking Shack, and he had a Herbology exam tomorrow, which he couldn't get out of because Professor Alfalfus didn't know about his...condition. Not that he wanted to get out of it, of course, but he would rather take it later than get bad marks, which he was sure to do. He sighed and lied down on the floor next to the fire, laying his head on an old and musty Prophet. As he did so he heard a rustling and leapt up, the hairs on his neck bristling, wand already out. A pair of alert gray eyes looked back at him. Sirius.

"Remus," Sirius said, his voice slightly hoarse. "We are so sorry." James stepped out of the shadows with a worried look on his face. "We got detention and Slughorn wouldn't let us reschedule!" James supplied. "McGonagall couldn't help us either because she's in Hogsmeade, something about 'personal business'-look, Moony, we feel terrible." Remus shook his head.

"It's alright, I was fine," he lied. "The transformation wasn't so bad this time. Short." He grunted awkwardly and turned away, trying to flatten his hair and wipe the blood off his cheek. Out of the corner of his eye he could see James and Sirius looking at each other.

"Moony..." James started.

"Really. I'm fine," Remus said. "And it was a one time thing. There was nothing you could do about it! It's not your fault, there's no sense in feeling guilty. Besides, Peter will be here soon and you guys can get into as much trouble as you want," he chuckled.

"Okay. Well, we're still really sorry," Sirius said and clapped him on the back. Remus tried not to wince but he saw right through it. "Mate, tomorrow morning, you, me, and Madam Pomfrey. Whadd'you say?" Remus grinned and said, "Sounds like a date." They all turned away and walked back up the stairs, eager for some sleep.

**James**

Besides feeling incredibly guilty about the Remus situation, James was just bummed out in general. He didn't seem to be getting anywhere with Lily, his marks were down, not to mention this week's disastrous Quidditch practice. Saturday afternoon he spent a good forty-five minutes in the team showers; his team's Seeker, Charles, thought he was trying to kill himself and nearly knocked down the stall.

Sighing, James tied his shoe and straightened up, rumpling his hair. He thought Lily liked it that way. Lily. Lily, Lily, Lily...his thoughts revolved around Lily nowadays. Padfoot was starting to think it was unhealthy, not that he'd ever thought differently. Well, it wasn't his decision, was it? And right now he was going to make the decision to go find Lily. He thought she'd be in the common room, she usually was this time of day.

Trudging up the green to the castle, he thought about Peter. He would be getting to Hogwarts tomorrow, the fifteenth. James was very excited; the Marauders would be together again. But would they, really? Three new people had sort of joined their group, and although they weren't part of the _Marauders_, they were still significant. Peter never did well with change and he was extremely awkward around girls. Perhaps this year that would change. After all, everything else was.

He spent the rest of the walk in silent thought until he got to the common room, pausing to compliment the Fat Lady on her new frame. She laughed giddily and swung open without asking for the password. As soon as he entered he felt something was off, but what was it? Aha. His eyes centered upon Lily's red ones as he ran towards her. "Lily? What's wrong?"

**Lily**

_Aargh!_ Lily thought as she looked at her Arithmancy homework. Why did it have to be so hard? Yes, she was alright at it, but she _hated_ it! Why couldn't everything be like Potions? She slammed her book shut and jumped up, sending a pair of third years scuttling behind a stack of books. Where was Rose when you needed her? Well, probably in the kitchens, eating. Lily loved that girl to death but she envied her as well; how was it that she ate _so much_ and never gained an ounce?

She decided to see what the house-elves had prepared for tea and perhaps call Giselle and Bette; she could use some girls-only time. With a plan in mind she walked to the common room, hoping they would be there. They were, sitting by the fire. "Hey, you guys, d'you know where Rose is? I thought she might be in the kitchens...since we haven't done our girl thing this week, I wanted to do something. Of course that means that you two should come as well." She smiled at them.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchens," Bette answered. "And Eloise is with her, they were looking for something to eat. You know them." She rolled her eyes.

"Well are you coming?" She asked. Giselle nodded and got up, looking wistfully at the fire. Bette followed her and they walked out of the portrait hole. "So, Bette," Lily started. "How's it going with the boys? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No," Bette giggled, "But I have someone in mind."

"Really?" Lily said interestedly, "Who? Tell us!"

"Well, it's this boy named Jared Sauvage, do you know him?" She asked. Lily gasped and saw Giselle flinch out of the corner of her eye. Bette rambled on as if unaware of the effect she had just caused. "He's a Ravenclaw and he's really nice! He helped me out in my Herbology class a couple of days ago and asked me if we wanted to go to Hogsmeade next weekend." She stopped and turned around, realizing that Giselle and Lily were still standing ten feet behind her. "Wha-oh, my god," she said, "I just realized, you used to go out with him, didn't you? Last year? Is it alright if I go on a date with him, or will that make you mad?"

"No," Giselle breathed, "It's fine." Her words didn't quite match her horrified face.

"Why do you look like that, then?" Bette asked. "Are you sure? Because if it'll cause a problem-"

"She's sure." Lily interrupted firmly. "Will you go on to the kitchens and tell Rose to come up to the dormitory? I've just remembered that we promised her we'd do something, just the three of us, this afternoon," she ended rather lamely.

"Um...sure," Bette said. "Just, you guys aren't mad or anything, right?"

"No. Definitely not," Lily said with a kind of grimace-like smile on her face. "Okay, bye bye then." She turned away and grabbed her friend's arm, pulling her back up the stairs. Giselle was in a kind of trance-like state. They entered the common room again(Florentine! was the password)and Lily, still holding her arm, guided her into the dormitory and onto her bed. "Giselle," she said softly. "Giselle, look at me." She didn't move. "_Giselle_," she said a bit more loudly and snapped her fingers in her face. Giselle looked up slowly.

"What?"

"Are you..." Lily began. "Are you...alright?" Giselle nodded.

"Yes. Fine." A tear trickled down her cheek. "I'm fine Lily. Leave me alone. I want to be alone." She wasn't looking at Lily, but staring straight ahead.

"Giselle-"

"Alone." She said it softly but firmly. Lily didn't know what to do, so she left her in her semi-catatonic demeanor and walked down the stairs just as Rose burst in.

"Lily!" She said urgently and slightly out of breath. "Where's Giselle? Bette told me what happened and I ran here as fast as I could."

"She's upstairs," Lily said. Rose made to go past her but Lily put her arm out. "No, Rose. She told me to leave her alone. I think we need to." Rose swelled up a tiny bit.

"Leave her alone? There is no way in hell I'm leaving her alone! Move _over_, Lily!" Lily didn't budge.

"_No_. I'm not letting you up there. She needs to be by herself for a while. We can go up there later." Rose stared at Lily unbelievingly, then gave up and sat down on the couch, scaring away a group of tiny first-years. Lily sat down next to her and they looked at each other for a minute.

"What are we going to do?" Rose asked. "What the hell do we do?" Lily shook her head, her eyes filling up with tears.

"I don't know! Rose, you didn't see her face," she said. "She just...it was worse than when we had that talk a week ago, remember that? She looked so _helpless_ and _vulnerable_ and I don't know what else! It was a flashback from last year and I," she gulped, "Never wanted, never_ want_ to see that look again." She burst into tears.

"Lily, _stop_ crying. Stop it." She took a deep breath. "We need to do something, Lily, we need to do something about this. He can't have this kind of control over her, not if she's ever going to heal."

"You're right." Lily said. "But it's hard, Rose, when your friend is going through something like this."

"I know. I'm sorry I told you to stop crying but I hate it when people cry...makes me uncomfortable," she said. "Look, I'm gonna go upstairs, okay? I need to see her." Lily nodded reluctantly and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Rose disappeared up the stairs precisely as James entered the common room, chuckling about something. Upon seeing Lily's red eyes, he rushed toward her, looking alarmed.

"Lily? What's wrong?" She burst into tears again.

**Rose**

Rose climbed up the spiral staircase gingerly, trying not to make much noise. She wasn't sure what state Giselle would be in when she got up there. She tripped on a stair and cursed, and the door flung open. She looked up, rubbing her knee.

"Oh, hi Rose," Giselle said monotonously, and turned around and went back in, leaving the door open behind her. Rose assumed that meant she could come in, though it didn't really matter. She was coming in whether Giselle wanted her to or not. She got up, still wincing, and entered the girl's dormitory, leaving the door open a crack. Giselle was sitting on the bed, staring silently into the corner and picking at her nails. This was going to be harder than she thought.

She walked over to Giselle and sat down next to her. Giselle looked down at her knees and sighed.

"I never expected this to surface again. I know, stupid right?" She rolled her eyes. Rose didn't know what to say; she hadn't expected Giselle to speak first. "I should've told Dumbledore. I should've told someone. I should've...I should've done a lot of things. But I just couldn't!" She took a calming breath. "When...it...happened, you guys were the only ones I could confide in. At least that's what it felt like. It was so embarrassing, Rose! I felt...defiled, and dirty, and I couldn't share that with anyone but you!" A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. Rose took her hands into her own and said forcefully, "Look at me. Giselle, look at me. Your pain is our pain. What you go through, we go through. We're a part of you. And we will help you get through this again, although I don't think you really got through it before. But there's something you need to do." Giselle was looking at Rose as if she couldn't look away, and her bottom lip was quivering. "You need to do what was so hard for you. You need to tell someone, and that someone needs to be Dumbledore." Giselle was shaking her head. "Yes. Yes. And you need to do it before he hurts someone again, because you know as well as I do that he will. He's already starting, Giselle! What about Bette? Giz, she doesn't deserve this." She was looking at her knees again.

"You're right," she said. "You're right." Her eyes were shining now and she launched herself forward into a hug with Rose. "Oh," Rose said and awkwardly patted her on the back. When Giselle let go she got up and said, "I'm gonna leave you alone now, okay?" Giselle looked frightened.

"Could you...not?" she asked, "Could you stay? Here? For a little while?" She turned around and saw Lily standing there. "Could you guys just stay with me?" She had a vulnerable look on her face, as if she might cry any minute. "Of course," Lily said and went to her, putting her arms around her neck. Giselle looked beseechingly at her. Rose conjured a blanket from thin air and laid it on the floor. A hint of a smile appeared on Giselle's face. "Like old times," Rose whispered. They all laid down on it and spent the next hour in silence.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hello all. Well, I promised you a long chapter. What do you think? Too much drama? Well, I don't do drama THAT well so don't expect an overload of it in future chapters. Speaking of chapters, I'm not sure how many I'm gonna do but it'll be a good amount, no worries.

So tell me what you thought in a **_review_**! How long do you want to wait before I get someone together? Who do you want it to be? And who is your favorite prospective couple?

I promise next chapter will have something I'm sure you all have been waiting for :). Remember, the more reviews I get the faster I update!

**DesmondHume**


	9. Chapter 9:The Arrival of Peter Pettigrew

Chapter 9

**Rose**

Rose cursed as her quill ripped through her piece of parchment. She must've been writing too hard. "_Reparo,_" she muttered and it went back to normal. Oh, magic. What would she do without it?

Yawning, she rolled up her essay and slammed her book shut. Sirius yelped as he was jolted awake and looked around bleary-eyed. "Rose? What're you doing, don't make so much noise! Some of us are trying to _sleep_ here." He rolled over on the chaise longue and said, "_Nox._" The lights went out.

"Sirius," Rose whined and said, "_Lumos_." Sirius rolled back over and said, in a long-suffering voice, "Rose, _please..._it's late and I'm exhausted! Some of us aren't as smart as you! And what are you doing in the boy's dormitory?"

"We're not _in_ the boy's dormitory, we're in the _library_ and you were supposed to be helping me study!" she said, looking quite harassed. "We have an exam tomorrow and then we have finals and then we have more finals and then we have N.E.W.T.s! No time can be wasted!" she finished. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Rose, finals aren't for _three_ months, and N.E.W.T.s are in about, what, nine?" he said disbelievingly. "If you're worried about them, don't be. You got O's in your O.W.L.s and top marks in everything else, and did I mention it's not for nine months?" She gave him a withering look and flounced out. She could hear him scrambling about for his things and then run after her. "Look, I'm sorry I fell asleep, okay?" he apologized. "Don't be mad." She felt an odd swooping sensation as he intercepted her and lifted her chin up.

"I'm not mad," she said truthfully, "Just a bit stressed. You know, with school and...and stuff. I'm sorry if I'm a bit snappy; it's nothing personal." She shook herself mentally and sidestepped him, continuing on down the hall. "You know, you really should hurry...it's almost lunch, isn't Peter supposed to arrive around then?"

"Yes, he is-I'd forgotten about that Rose! Ugh, thank you so much! I'll help you study tomorrow during free period, okay, I promise." With a pat on the shoulder, he dashed down the sunlit walkway towards the Great Hall. The Gryffindor table was having a semi-feast for Peter, since he had missed the first day back. Rose shook her head and took the route to the common room so she could drop off her books before lunch. While she was walking, she saw a brown-haired boy detach himself from a group and lope toward her.

"Hey, Rose," the boy said breathlessly.

"Oh-er, hey...?" She recognized his face but couldn't remember who he was.

"Jack-Ginzburg, Giselle's friend, remember? I sat with you in a quidditch match last year?"

"Yes, of course," she lied. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said. "Here, let me help you." He relieved her partially of her books and her back felt much lighter. "Better?" he asked.

"Loads, thanks."

"So, I wanted to talk to you about her. Giselle, I mean. I've noticed she's been kind of...down the whole time we've been here and I wondered if I could maybe do something to cheer her up? I thought it might be because of school or something, but everyone else seems to be coping fine. And she's avoiding talking about it as well."

"Oh. That's really nice of you to worry about her, Jack, but she's fine. I'm sure she'd appreciate the fact that you were thinking about her, though."

"Right," he said, in a disbelieving tone, "Well...just let her know that I'm here, okay? And tell her everything will be alright." He dropped her off at the common room, nodded his head and made his way back down the corridor.

**James**

James twisted his head around, trying to find Peter. He could _just _see the top of his large head as he made his way through the entrance hall. Peter looked around hopefully, then sighed and walked right past the Marauders.  
"Hey Peter!"  
"Pete!"  
"Wormtail!"  
Peter jumped and turned around, a grin spreading on his tired, paunchy face. "Remus!" he exclaimed and ran over to them, tripping over his too-long robes and falling flat on his face. A couple of third-years sniggered and Sirius glared at them malevolently, causing them to scurry away. Remus ran over and helped him up as Peter's face became rapidly more sanguine.  
"Come here, give us a hug!" James said, and the three boys all hugged Peter. When they emerged, Peter looked rather embarrassed but sheepishly happy.  
"We've missed you, mate!" Sirius said.  
"Yeah, we couldn't stop thinking about you," James interjected, "We were practically sleepless." They chuckled and turned around to walk up to the common room.  
"Look, Peter, we're really sorry about Arabella," Sirius said. "We know how much she meant to you." Peter looked downcast and nodded.  
"Yeah, well...thanks. I'm sorry about her as well." They were silent for a moment, lost in thought. "Listen, you guys, our family just started getting better so could we...not talk about this anymore?"  
"Sure, mate," Remus said. "Whatever you want. So welcome back!" The mood got a bit lighter as they started talking about Hogwarts. Peter had failed most of his O.W.L.s, so he wasn't in a lot of their classes. "It's okay, Pete," James said. "We all know that you're good at magic, I mean how many other people can say they can turn into a _rat_ at moments notice?"

**Lily**

It was nighttime, and Lily Evans couldn't sleep. She'd tried everything; counting hippogriffs, relaxing her body, even drinking some warm milk, but nothing would work. She gave up as the clock hit 1:13 and hauled herself out of bed, pausing to give her face a quick splash from the water next to her bed. She yawned and felt her jaw crack, then grabbed her book and walked downstairs.

Lily was quite a fan of muggle reading. Right now she was engrossed in her copy of Pride and Prejudice; she'd read it once every year since third year. She found that she always had more insights and interpreted things in different ways every time she read it, and she loved it. It was her favorite book.  
She snuggled up on her favorite chair with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa she'd transfigured and began to read. Before she knew it she was 12 chapters in and feeling dreary. Oh, how warm she was...the fire burning low in the grate cast the perfect amount of heat, her blanket was soft and fluffy, her cocoa rich and perfect...

_She was in a room with high arches and huge, Japanese lanterns hanging from the ceiling. She could feel someone else's presence in the room, but...where was he? She ran around the columns, laughing. "Where are you_?" _she called out, but there was no answer. "Are you there?" She leapt lightly across the floor, twirling around, looking for him. "I know you're-" She was interrupted as a frothy piece of silk was wrapped around her head, blocking her vision. "Shh." She heard his voice in her ear and felt his hand around her ribcage. "Where are we going?" He didn't answer for a minute, and then whispered, "Someplace special." He took her hand and picked her up, her legs dangling. "Don't talk." He walked with her in his arms for several minutes, and Lily felt the breeze of the night upon her face. "I'm putting you down now." He gently let her down, until her bare feet felt the springy grass and she stood, shivering. "Where are you?" she asked again. There was no answer. "Who are you?" she questioned. She was starting to feel uneasy. Suddenly he was there and he said, "You know who I am. You've always known." He pulled off her blindfold and he was there, and she knew-_

She woke up with a start. "What?" she said aloud. What had that been? She shook her head, her hair falling out of her thick ponytail, and checked the time. It was 5:27. She groaned and stood up, stretching her back like a cat. Who had that been? She remembered a feeling of safety and security, and she _knew_ she'd known who that was, but she'd forgotten. "Damn you to hell, stupid brain," she grumbled and walked back up to the dormitory, leaving her cocoa, and her dreams, behind.

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note:**

Oh my god. I know it has been forever since I've updated! I'm sorry for the lousy chapter! I'm sorry for the short chapter! I'm sorry! I know that there's no excuse, but here are several in case you're interested:

I've been really busy.  
I got no reviews on my last chapter.  
I've been quite blocked.  
I'm going through some major life changes right now(how corny does that sound?)

I know you guys don't really care about what's going on in my life, I just feel some need to justify myself. I'll try to update soon and I'll try to make it good.

Please review? Please...review? Please?

**DesmondHume **


	10. Chapter 10: Wild World

Chapter 10

**Rose**

It was 10:00 on a lovely Friday evening in the middle of September. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the trees were blowing in the wind, and Rose was inside with a head cold, doing homework. "The-Proper-Uses-of-Mandragora-Root," she grunted as she labeled her essay. "Ugh," she said and closed her eyes. Her head was killing her! She just needed some sleep, was all. She packaged everything up and went upstairs to her dormitory, accidentally trodding on Remus' cat Pegasus, who yowled at her and bared her teeth. Ah well. Rose was not exactly the most graceful of people; that award had to go to Lily.

Lying down in bed, she closed her eyes and put her sleep mask on. Her eyes were closed for no more than 90 seconds until she fell asleep.

**James**

James, Lily, Sirius, and Giselle were out on the grounds beneath the beech tree, taking advantage of the most beautiful day they were sure to have for a while. Remus was helping Peter unpack in the castle. "Padfoot, chuck us a scone," he requested as Sirius came back from the kitchens, his pack bulging. Sirius bewitched the pastry to hit James repeatedly around the head until he said 'I am an ungrateful little wart'. James spit dirt out of his mouth, panting. "Gross," he snarled, shooting Sirius a filthy look as he caught sight of Lily and Giselle rolling around on the grass, laughing.

"Oh, James, lighten up," said Giselle, gasping for breath. James scowled, but he wasn't really in a bad mood. That is, he wasn't, until-

"Lily," called Snape. Lily looked around, and upon catching sight of him, turned back around in a huff. "Lily," called Snape again, getting closer. "Lily, did you hear me?"

"I heard, you, yes," she said with gritted teeth. "I was hoping you would go away."

"Lily," Snape said for the fourth time. "I'm really sorry-about two years ago, I never meant it." Lily sighed.

"I'm not interested, Sev-Snape."

"I-I really think I've changed, Lily-please, will you give me a chance?" He looked over at James, pushing his lank and dirty hair back from his face. "Will you talk to me, alone, for a min-"

"Oi," said James peevishly, standing up. "You're not going anywhere with her, especially not alone." Giselle was following this conversation, a crinkle between her eyebrows.

"Who are you to tell me who I can and can't see, James?" Lily said irritably. "Snape, I will go with you this one time, but you have five minutes. If I don't like what you have to say, I'm never talking to you again, do you hear?" Snape nodded dizzyingly.

"Yes, five minutes, that's fine," he said enthusiastically. "Come on." He led Lily away from their group, Lily glaring over her shoulder at James.

"What _is_ it with her?" he asked the air. Giselle answered.

"You're too protective of her, James. You two aren't a couple-"

"As much as you'd like to be," Sirius interjected.

"-and she needs her independence. Always has. She needs to be able to decide things for herself. This goes back to your clinginess," she finished humorously. James rolled his eyes and spent the next 4 minutes fidgeting with his quill and shooting malevolent glares at Snape, who was gesticulating wildly to a very uneasy-looking Lily.

"That's not true!" she shouted, and stalked back to the group under the beech tree, looking upset. She left Snape standing there alone, looking heartbroken and miserable. James turned away from this sight and focused on Lily, whose face was very red, her fists clenched. "Are you okay?" he asked concernedly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She rounded on him, her eyes steely. "You!" she barked. "You, are the last thing I need right now! As if you _care_ how I feel!" Giselle and Sirius had the good grace to back away, muttering to themselves. James was bewildered.

"What's that supposed to mean, I don't care how you feel?"

"It means," she yelled, her eyes glinting, "That if you _really_ cared about me, like you always _say _you do, you wouldn't have chased Severus away! You would've listened to me once in a blue moon and just left him ruddy well alone! Always taunting him, about his hair, about his clothes-who cares about that? And the thing is," she drew in a breath, "You could never tell me why it was that you didn't like him. He was my friend, and you weren't-you never really understood that. If you really cared for my feelings," she continued almost incoherently, "You would have realized that I've always hated you! I hate you," she finished childishly.

"You're right," he said coldly. "I'm sorry." He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving people openly staring behind him.

**Sirius**

"Wow," said Sirius, some twenty minutes later. They had just left Lily in the common room, half mad, half-well, he didn't really know what. Girls' emotions were quite a bit more complicated than anyone else's.

"I know," Giselle said, grinning. "But it's been a long time coming, I think." Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"Has it, though? I mean we both know they're gonna get together sooner or later, what's with all the wait?"

"I don't know," Giselle sighed. "That's just who Lily is. She can't accept it. And James _has_ been rather annoying, you've got to admit it." Sirius nodded again, grinning.

"Poor Prongsie...always doing the wrong thing, never knowing it." Giselle looked sideways at him.

"Why do you...I mean, what's with the nicknames? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs? What's that about?"

"Oh, I don't know. How do any nicknames get started anyway?" He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "How do you reckon N.E.W.T.s are going to be? I mean, obviously harder than O.W.L.s, but do you think we'll do alright?" They talked about the exams for a while, abusing Professor Grenouille's lousy teaching methods and excitedly discussing their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

"This year we get to start Patronuses! What shape do you think yours'll be?" questioned Giselle.

He snorted.

"Probably a dog." She looked at him. "I was able to do one in fourth year, and I doubt it's changed."

"_You_ were able to do one? But how? I mean, that's supposed to be really difficult! The only person from our year I knew about was Rose, but she's really good at-well, she's good at everything," she said admiringly. Sirius silently agreed with her.

"What shape is hers?"

"Well, I wasn't there, but she says it's a lion. We'll see," she sniggered, "Because my mother tells everyone hers is a blackbear, and it's actually a chipmunk."

**James**

James lie on the rooftop of the Astronomy Tower, incensed. How could Lily say those things, to _him_ of all people? He let out a breath, looking up at the constellation Orion. Well, fine. If she didn't want his attention, she wasn't going to get it. He was done, he was out, he had chased her for far too long-and it had all been for nothing.

He suddenly felt empty inside.

No. He wouldn't let her take that. He had _lots _of things to look forward to, like Hogsmeade tomorrow. Yes, Hogsmeade. He would go to Zonkos...he needed to replenish his store of chattering teeth and dungbombs. And Honeydukes was always amazing! Come to think of it, he could really use some chocolate. Oh yes, life was still great-and it would be just fine without Lily.

**Lily**

Lily threw another tissue into the fire. It had been several hours since her fight with James, or rather, as Lily liked to think of it, her coming-to-terms.

Severus had given her lots to think about. Even though she hadn't forgiven him-and now, never would, he had made some valid points. James _had_ always been horrible to Severus, ever since they laid eyes upon each other. And Severus-no, Snape, had been a victim for most of it. _Well,_ she thought, _he's not a victim anymore. _He made his own choices. No one had forced him to do those horrible things to poor Mary McDonald, and she was sure he'd done worse things since then, even if he didn't share them with _her_.

Yes. She had done the right thing, distancing herself from both of them. They were both bad in their own ways, and she could do without them in her life.

Feeling something heavy settle somewhere in between her heart and diaphragm, she threw her last tissue into the flames and went to the bathroom to shower.

**Remus**

Remus awoke, yet again, to the sound of Peter snoring, and threw a pillow at him, yet again. Nothing happened. "Aargh," he groaned, and looked at the clock. Well, it was already six A.M., and they were planning to go to Hogsmeade around eight, so he could get some homework in before breakfast. Throwing his clothes on, he grabbed a glass of water from the jug by the window and gulped it down, splashing his face. He brushed his teeth and started the rather sizable walk to the Great Hall. Really, did their dormitory have to be so f_ar_ away? Looking down at his feet as he went, it was of no great surprise to him that he bumped into someone. "Professor McGonagall!" he spluttered as she looked down her nose at him, straightening her glasses. "Ah, Mr. Lupin," she said crisply. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Just...couldn't sleep," he answered.

"Are you going to breakfast?" she asked. He nodded. "Well, I shall escort you then." He agreed, rather confused. Why did she want to come with him? The reason became clear after a couple seconds.

"Mr. Lupin, I wanted to talk to you about your status as Head Boy. Although you have been doing a spectacular job, Professor Dumbledore and I feel it would be best if Mr. Potter were the Head Boy instead." He looked at her, slightly taken aback.

"You mean, James?"

"Yes. As I previously said, you have been doing a reputable job, but Mr. Potter could use the traits that come with the position. Mainly responsibility. You already have this; indeed, in excess. And I'm sure you'll be glad of the extra time for your studies, and it will help with your-" she sniffed, "er, time of the month." He took a quick glance around, hoping no one had heard that last bit and misconstrued it. They had arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Well, if you and Professor Dumbledore think that's best, then I'm sure you're right. Thank you for telling me in person, Professor."

"You're welcome, Mr. Lupin. I will shortly be informing Mr. Potter of our decision." She left him at the door, slightly confused, and they walked to their respective tables.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hello, all. Sooo, this is the 2nd chapter on which I haven't gotten any reviews! It's kinda sad really, is my writing that abysmal? Well, don't answer that.

The point is, review.

**DesmondHume**


	11. Chapter 11: Robe and Realism

Chapter 11

**James**

"Oww!" James yelped as Filch stuffed a Probity Probe directly into his ribs. "What are you _doing?_" Filch glared at him as he wheezed, "Headmaster's orders, Potter. We're on high alert today."

"Well watch where you put that thing, will you? I haven't got anything Dark!" Filch jabbed him in the sternum and pushed him out of the door, yelling "Next!". James winced and rubbed his hurt rib.

"Hey, Prongs, are you alright?" called Sirius, also wincing and rubbing his knee. "Filch is in a rather bad mood today, isn't he?"

"Yeah," James agreed. "Someone needs to get him tested, I swear."

"Listen," said Sirius, lowering his voice as Peter walked over to them, walking very stiffly, "Are you okay about...about what happened, last night? You _will_ forgive her, right?"

"No," James interjected swiftly. "I won't. I've forgiven her too many times."

"So..." said Sirius uncomfortably, "That's it? You don't love her anymore, just like that?"

"Right." James turned away from Sirius as Remus came walking up, looking windswept.

"You guys ready to go?" Remus asked briskly.

"Yeah," Peter answered fervently, casting a wary eye on Filch. They started down the path, watching their breath in the cold September air. The day was no longer as beautiful as it was yesterday; instead, it was cold, stormy, and windy. They reached Hogsmeade, none of them talking much. As they rounded the corner, they breathed in the dense, sugary warmth of Honeydukes and had to go inside. The bell jingled as they opened the door.

James grinned as the smell of creamy, hazelnut-y nougat reached his nose. He went up to the counter and got 2 pounds of the nougat as well as a dozen cannolis and a whole coffee cake. A small, scared looking second year boy was ogling him and James raised his eyebrows, causing the boy to jump and scurry away. Sirius grinned shiftily at him over by the sugar quills. "James, come here," Peter called from across the store. He paid for his food and walked over to the Chocolate Frog section. "Yeah?" Peter was loading about 50 boxes into his basket.

"Grab a basket, will you? I can't carry all these by myself."

88 minutes and 30 galleons later, they found themselves walking back up the sleety street. "D'you think we have enough to last us until next time?" Sirius yelled at him-the wind was pounding against their ears and they could hardly hear anything.

"Padfoot, the next Hogsmeade visit is right before Halloween, so I think we're fine," Remus answered sarcastically. "Let's go to Zonkos, shall we?"

**Lily**

"Rose, look at this one!" Giselle yelped. She had just laid eyes upon a ruffly, red dress and was going to make Rose try it on. They were in a store called _Robe_ at the very end of Hogsmeade. It was a small boutique, and she was quite sure the owners were French. They had always come to this store on Hogsmeade weekends, it was one of their traditions. Right now they were trying to pick out dresses for the Christmas ball. It was exclusively for seventh years, and it was always quite a big deal; they used to sit in the common room and watch as the seventh year girls came down from the stairs looking like royalty in their long, floaty gowns and sensational hair.

Rose grinned and picked it up, disappearing into the dressing room for a minute and then came out looking like a goddess. The dress accentuated her curves magnificently, showing just the right amount of skin without being too revealing. "And you can wear it with these shoes!" squealed Giselle. Giselle became slightly worked up around clothes, which got annoying at times, but her fashion advice was great. The three girls all had different styles, which was hard to show, given that they had to wear robes at school, but they managed. At times like these, they were only too happy to go shopping-something that they all enjoyed, even Rose. In fact, Rose probably enjoyed it the most. "Rose, you are buying that dress," stated Giselle in a business-like tone. "Next." Lily picked up the gown Giselle had assigned her and silently appraised it.

The dress had a huge bow on its only shoulder strap, and the rest of the dress went to the floor except for a rather lengthy slit up one side. Giselle looked slightly faint. "If you don't try that on, Lily Evans, I will murder you in your sleep," she declared. Lily smiled at her and went into the dressing room, buttoned herself up, and stepped back out. Rose's jaw dropped. "Lily, you look amazing. You have to get that. I _need_ you to get that," she said, grabbing Lily's shoulders and shaking her as if she was protesting.

"I will, I will!" she muttered. "I just need someone to go with, that's all." Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw Giselle and Rose exchanging glances behind her back.

"Lily, don't you think you should apologize to James?" Giselle said anxiously, her dress hanging limply beside her. "I mean, he seems really hurt, and-" She quailed as Lily turned around, glaring daggers at her. "I will forgive James when pigs fly," she announced and stalked back into the dressing room, yanking the curtains shut behind her.

James. He was simply more trouble than he was worth. She had spent _years_ agonizing about him, and he was the last thing she wanted to think about, ever again. No, there were cute boys in Hogwarts besides James, like Charles Archibald, the Gryffindor team Seeker, or Ryan Davies, who was cute but rather thick. Not much choice, but she would manage.

She pulled her 3 sweaters over her head and walked out to pay for the dress.

**James**

"Shall we go to the Three Broomsticks then?" Remus asked. They all agreed, and walking into the steamy pub, let out a sigh of relief. They had been at Zonko's for nearly an hour, stocking up on things that were sure to get them in detention every day for a month.

"I'll get us a table," Remus said. Peter trotted off alongside him, leaving James and Sirius to get the drinks.

"Four butterbeers and a plate of cauldron cakes, please," Sirius ordered from the bartender. James looked around as the door opened, letting in a cold draft of air, and found himself looking directly at Lily's startled face. She turned around to walk out, but Rose pushed her in, murmuring 'no', and cast an apologetic look at James. Sirius was eyeing him watchfully. "I'm _fine_," he told Sirius yet again, not quite meeting his eyes. As soon as their order came, he grabbed the plate and stalked towards their table, banging the plate of cauldron cakes down.

"What," started Remus, "was that all about? You've been in a foul mood since this morning. And why aren't we sitting with them?" He jerked his head at the the table with Giselle, Rose, and Lily. James' stomach clenched as Lily threw him a malevolent glare.

"James got in a fight with Lily, and he's really upset about it, but he's pretending like he doesn't care," Sirius rambled. "Which we all know he does. And I think," he took a gulp of his butterbeer, "that you should try and talk to her. I mean, seriously, the amount of time you two spend fighting-!"

"He's got a point, you know," Remus said wisely. "You two have always-"

"Can we talk about something else?" James said loudly. "I told you, I'm fine." Remus raised his eyebrows, but Peter brought up Quidditch, and they all began to talk jovially about the upcoming match.

"Yeah, I reckon our chances are pretty good! We've got a new Seeker this year, Charles Archibald, and he's training pretty well so far. Slytherin's not so well off; their best Beater left last year, and they're the only real competition, aren't they?"

They got deeper and deeper into the conversation, and James was free to glance periodically at Lily. She looked rather put out, and was sulkily sipping her butterbeer. James felt a sort of vindictive pleasure and looked away, stuffing a cauldron cake in his mouth whole. He looked at the door as it opened, letting two men and a whirl of snow inside. He moved closer to the heater and took another cauldron cake.

**Lily**

Lily was feeling rather put out, and sulkily took a sip of her butterbeer. James kept looking at her, did he think he was being sneaky? She rolled her eyes and turned toward her friends. Bette Shepherd had joined them and was talking feverishly about their recent Charms test while Giselle sat with glazed eyes and Rose slumped in her chair, stirring her gillywater with a swizzle stick. "So anyway, I wasn't sure if it was _aguamenti _or _augamenti_, and I'm sure now it was _aguamenti_, and so I've failed, I've failed!" she said with a hysterical edge to her voice. "I just know I've completely-" Lily tuned her out as she noticed James was looking at her again. She crinkled her eyebrows at him and cast her eyes down, noticing the 17 Honeydukes bags in between the four boys' legs. She looked over at the door as two men walked in and wrapped her coat more tightly about her.

There was a tremendous hacking sound to her left, and she turned her head to see James choking on something and Sirius whacking him on the back. Remus and Peter were laughing as James coughed up a whole cauldron cake. Lily turned away, revolted.

Bette was still going on about her grades, but Lily had had enough.

"Bette, I'm sorry. We have to go." She grabbed Giselle's and Rose's hands and yanked, pulling them towards the door.

"Thank god," Rose said as they stepped outside, "I thought I was going to die! I mean, _I'm_ supposed to be the grades-obsessed one! Am I _that_ boring?" She looked around at Giselle and Lily, who were both trying very hard not to answer.

They walked along, their footsteps crunching in the snow, the breeze smarting their faces. "Should we just go back to the castle, then?" asked Giselle, "It's after twelve, and we should probably get some homework done-"

There was a colossal boom as the Three Broomsticks exploded behind them. Shards of glass flew in all directions and they were thrown onto the ground as the shock wave reached them. Lily felt her arm twist in front of her and a sickening crunch as her wrist broke. She cried out in pain and spit snow out of her mouth. "Rose!" she yelled. "Giselle!" There was no answer. All that Lily could hear was a sort of vague jumble of sounds and the sound of crackling fire. She looked around and saw Giselle unconscious next to her and Rose trying to get up a yard away, a slash along her cheekbone and a bruise blooming on her forehead. She stood up, swaying slightly, and made her way over to Rose. "Are you okay?" she gasped. Rose nodded, her eyes slightly unfocused, and murmured, "I'm going to get help. Try and put out the fire."

Lily turned towards what was left of the Three Broomsticks and felt a sickening lurch in her stomach. Everyone was in there, Sirius, Bette, Remus, Peter, _James_, what if they were all-?

She pushed this thought out of her mind and ran towards the building. "Aguamenti!" she screamed and a huge jet of water burst from the tip of her wand. A second jet of water reached the building and she saw Giselle next to her, slightly scratched but otherwise alright. The fire was extinguished and they went through the charred, dripping door.

The room was destroyed; broken furniture everywhere, small fires on chairs and tables, people, just starting to stir on the ground. Lily recognized a small boy from Gryffindor and ran over to him. "Are you okay?" she whispered. He whimpered and she noticed that one of his arms was burned. There was the sound of footsteps by the door and Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, Slughorn, and Locke came in, each looking shocked. Professor McGonagall went to the small boy and Lily got up, nursing her hand.

"Over here!" came the sound of Sirius' voice. "James is hurt-he's not moving, he's not waking up!"

Lily stopped breathing, her arm forgotten. She barely had time to move out of the way before the four professors pushed past her, Dumbledore kneeling at James' head. He started murmuring a string of words that were incomprehensible to her; she supposed it was magic. Lily pushed her way past Professor Slughorn's considerable girth.

"What's happened to him?" she whispered, her eyes filling up with tears. Dumbledore looked up at her and said, "He'll have to be taken to St. Mungo's, immediately. Please move out of the way." Lily stepped back as he pulled a stretcher out of thin air and magicked James onto it, levitated it, and said to Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, please take care of everything here, I need to go with James. I hope you understand." McGonagall nodded and Dumbledore moved swiftly from the room, taking James with him.

Lily did not understand. When the Slytherin Beater had swung a Bludger directly into James' head, he had been fine. When Peter had accidentally blown up his Strengthening Solution in James' face, he had been fine. When Lily had punched him in the face so hard his nose broke, he had only gone to the Hospital Wing for twenty minutes. James was fine; he always was. So why was James on his way to St. Mungo's, why were Lily's nerve endings on fire, why had her heart stopped beating?

She felt a hand on her shoulder and was brought back down to earth. "Lily?" said Bette's voice. Lily didn't move. "Lily, are you alright?" She looked up at Bette.

"What happened? Who did this?"

"Two Death Eaters," Bette said, her voice shaking slightly, "They came into the bar just before you guys left. The only reason we're alive is because Sirius Black noticed what they were about to do; he did something to one of them, and then the other one blew himself up." She made a convulsive movement and Professor McGonagall rushed over, took them both by the hand and led them outside to the carriages that were taking people back to the castle. "I don't understand," Lily said. "I...we were just in the Three Broomsticks, and now its gone, and people are dead. James is..." she lapsed into silence. McGonagall sighed and looked her straight in the face. "

"This is a different age, a different era. He-who-must-not-be-named is rising into power and will stop at nothing to get it. If only I had known," she said softly. She seemed to collect herself and looked back at Lily. "Mr Potter will be fine. I...I know that you two had somewhat of a-a relationship." She walked away. Lily closed her eyes.

The carriage gave a great lurch and began to move, whisking them back to the castle.

James' face was burned into the back of her eyelids.

**Author's Note:**

So? What did you think? Comments, anyone?

**DesmondHume**


	12. Chapter 12: Heart and Soul

Chapter 12

**Lily**

Lily walked through the hall, heart racing, hearing her footsteps strike the floor.

As soon as she had got back to the castle, she had demanded to see James. When told this was not possible, she had gone slightly crazy; crying and yelling until finally she curled up in a ball on her bed. She didn't move for eighteen hours.

When Professor McGonagall came into her dormitory, she told Lily that James was in the intensive care ward in St. Mungo's. He was slightly groggy, but awake, and he would be accepting visitors within the hour.

Now Lily was at the hospital, nearing the door to his room. A sudden wave of panic rushed over her: What if James was still mad at her? What if he didn't want to see her? She had no information besides the fact that he had suffered a nasty blow to the head, what if he didn't remember who she was?

She looked over her shoulder at Professor McGonagall, who was waiting expectantly. "Well, Miss Evans? Aren't you going in?" She took a deep breath and walked through the door.

James was sitting up on his bed; head, heavily bandaged, looking slightly worse for wear, but alive. He looked up as Lily came in the room, and Lily sighed in relief.

"James." She sat down next to him. He looked at her, slightly owlishly.

"Hi." There was a slightly awkward pause.

"How-um, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," he said, rather shortly. "Under the circumstances." Lily felt her eyes begin to water and looked away quickly.

"That's good." She took a breath. "James, I-"

"Lily, why are you here?" James interrupted. "We're not friends, we're not even acquaintances. You hate me. So what are you doing here?"

"James, I just wanted-"

"Lily, I can't-do this anymore. Every day is different with you! One day, we're friends, the next, you hate me, the next, you're back here, crying at my bedside! I just got my head bashed in, I'm confused enough. So, _tell_ me, once and for all: What do I mean to you?" They looked at each other for a split second, then Professor McGonagall walked in.

"Mr Potter," she greeted James. "How are you feeling?" Lily stood up with a start.

"Professor, I've got to go," she said disjointedly, and left the room without a backward glance.

**Rose**

Rose grinned at Sirius across the room. "Deja vu," she said. He smiled wanly.

"Yeah. I'm starting to think you're a bad luck charm."

They were in the Hospital Wing together for the second time, but this time they were both hurt. Rose had to drink a foul, acrid smelling potion that looked suspiciously like tripe, while Sirius had to wear a poultice on his chest and stomach for some cuts. He had just taken his shirt off; it was rather distracting.

He was acting rather oddly. As they rode back from Hogsmeade with Peter and Giselle(Remus had stayed behind to help, as Lily was off somewhere being hysterical), he had sat glassy-eyed and took no part in their discussion of the Death Eaters, and when they reached the castle he didn't want to talk to anyone. The only words he had spoken since the attack were the ones to save James.

As Madam Pomfrey bustled over to her with yet another draft of the potion, Rose leaned in.

"Madam Pomfrey, I think something's wrong with Sirius," she said. "Maybe he hit his head or something, but he's been acting...strange."

"He's fine," she reassured her, "Just in shock. In fact, I'm surprised that all of you aren't in shock as well, seeing as you were there when it happened. Poor Mr Stephenson," she whispered, casting a furtive look at him, "Always had a hard life, and now with his little sister killed in the fire..." her voice trailed off. "I'm just afraid that attacks like these are happening more and more often. And to _children_!"

She shook her head. "I've said too much. You may drink that with a glass of water and return to your dormitory."

Drinking her potion and retching slightly, Rose watched Richard Stephenson. It was true that he never had an easy life; everyone knew that his mother had been killed by Death Eaters in fourth year, leaving his father to take care of him and his sister. His father had to work to support them, so they always stayed at Hogwarts for school holidays. As much as Rose felt sorry for him, she knew she could have no idea how he was feeling.

Growing up on the Upper East side of New York, her family, like most pure blood families, was tremendously wealthy. They had never lost a family member to anything but natural causes, let alone Death Eaters.

The sound of rusty springs brought her back to earth. Sirius had just gotten up and was walking to his dormitory. Rose gulped the last of her potion, washed the burning feeling down her throat with some water, and followed him.

"Sirius, wait!" she caught up with him, her hair bouncing a little. She noticed the hemline of his pants was a bit singed. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine." He slid past her and continued walking down the hall.

"No, you're not. I _know_ something's wrong with you, and I don't care if Madam Pomfrey says it's shock because I know it's not." He stopped, and looked at her.

"Rose...I know one of those Death Eaters. He was my...my mother's friend. The one who blew himself up." He started walking again. "I guess I'm just...I mean...my family supports the Dark Arts, and they support Voldemort. None of them are Death Eaters-not for lack of wanting to be, they just want to keep face. I'm not like them," he stated. "And I hate them." Rose was quiet for a minute.

"Sirius, I know who you are. We all do. Nobody is blaming you for this." He said nothing, but continued to look at her. "Come on." She took his hand, which was slightly sticky from the blood, and led him towards Gryffindor tower.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hello everybody.  
Well, I'm sorry yet again for the short chapter! It was the best I could do, but don't worry, I shall update soon and you shall be satisfied(I hope!)

Thanks for all the lovely reviews last chapter! Don't forget to review this time.

Also, please tell me-would you like me to get Lily and James together now, or shall we build up the angst a bit more?

**DesmondHume**


	13. Chapter 13: The Courtyard

Chapter 13

**Sirius**

Two months had gone by since (what the students had christened) The Great Hogsmeade Fire of 1977. Life had gone back to normal for most students, but it was anything but regular for Sirius. In the days that followed the fire, he had become better and better friends with Giselle.

Giselle was now one of his closest friends. Rarely a night went by when he didn't hang out with her, whether it was homework, gossiping with Peter, or just the two of them talking. He had really come to enjoy her friendship, which incidentally, could not have come at a better time; James had been acting strange.

"Oi! James!" Sirius threw a pillow at him. James looked up drearily and said,

"What the hell was that for? I was sleeping!" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I _know_ you were sleeping, that's _why_ I threw the pillow at you. I want to ask you something." James raised his eyebrows warily.

"Yeah?"

D'you think you could invite me to one of those-what is it called again? Sluggy Club meetings."

"It's called the _Slug_ Club, and no offense Sirius, but you're not _really_ my type. Why?"

"Well..." Sirius leaned in. "I know that Rose is in it too, and I kind of want to…you know." James sat up quickly, banging his head on the low lintel.

"You fancy her, mate?"

"Well, yeah. But I can never find a way to ask her out, or I would do it myself! She's always so busy with school," Sirius scoffed. "Anyway, can I come?"

"Yeah," James grinned. "But mate, a word of caution. I chased a girl for years who wasn't really interested in me. So yeah, you can ask Rose out, once, maybe three times. But if she doesn't accept, just let her go. They're not really worth it." He tousled his hair and grinned at a sixth year girl by the fireplace, who blushed and ran into a wall.

"Er-okay, thanks," Sirius said, disgruntled. "You think she won't say yes, then?"

"All I'm saying is, don't be disappointed if she says no." He took a swig of his butterbeer.

"Yeah, thanks," he said, slightly uneasy. "There's one tomorrow night, right?" James nodded and laid his head on the pillow.

"At eight," he yawned, and promptly fell back asleep.

**Rose**

"What is it again?" Rose groaned, and fell back into her chair.

"The fanged geranium has seven rows of teeth, all disguised as petals. Say it," Remus commanded.

"The fanged geranium has seven rows of teeth, all disguised as petals," Rose repeated.

"Each row has two incisors, two bicuspids, and eight canines," Remus intoned.

"Each row has two incisors, two bicuspids, and eight canines." Rose said.

"Good. Now, what are the properties of the _root_ of the geranium, which is-" Remus stopped talking as Sirius walked up, looking nervous.

"Hi," he said, slightly shakily. Rose glanced at Remus.

"Hi," she replied. "What's…are you feeling alright?"

"Yes. Moony, could I have a moment with-" He gestured at Rose. Remus got up and walked away, looking bemused. Sirius sat down in Remus' spot.

"Um…" said Rose.

"Rose, I was wondering," Sirius started, looking Rose straight in the eye. "There's…well, there's this Slug Club pre-Christmas dinner on Saturday-that is, tomorrow night…and, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?" Rose was now as bemused as Remus.

"Sirius, you're not exactly in the Slug Club, are you?" Sirius shook his head. "Well, you can't go to the events if you're not in the Club, so…" she trailed off.

"Well, right. But I've asked James if I can go with him, so that's all taken care of." Rose crinkled her eyebrows.

"So what you're saying is, you're going as James' date, and I'm going with you and James?"

"No, you're just going with me. So, you're going then?" he beamed at her.

"Er, alright. Yes. Yes, I'll go with you." She smiled radiantly.

"Lovely! Well, I'll see you at eight tomorrow night then!" And he got up and sauntered out of the library. Remus came back and sat down again.

"What," he asked, "Was that all about?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm going to the dinner on Saturday with Sirius; he just wanted to ask me. Although I'm not entirely sure how much practice he has, because that _was_ rather interesting." Remus laughed.

"Yeah, well, Padfoot's never asked anyone out, has he?" He looked up from his notes at Rose's perplexed expression. "Well, he's not really the dating kind of guy, you know? Besides, the girls usually ask him."

"Yeah…" Rose said slowly.

"Hey, don't get-I didn't mean he was a player, just that he's enjoyed his share of women-you know what? I'm going to stop talking now. Erm, so what are the properties of the root of the fanged geranium then?"

**Lily**

Lily glowered at James as he made a sixth-year girl run into a wall. "What is her problem?" she hissed. "Can't she see he's not into her? Clearly, he's just trying to get back at me!" She rolled her eyes and turned her chair towards the window.

"Do your eyes ever stop rolling?" Giselle said exasperatedly. "Can you _please_ start testing me again? God knows I need it!"

"I mean, really," Lily continued doggedly. "It's quite obvious he loves _me_." She looked down. "_Loved_ me." She got up, her skirt flouncing. "Well, if he won't have me, then he won't have anyone!" She left Giselle shaking her head and marched over to the girl. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Running into a wall? How stupid _are_ you?" The girl looked highly affronted and opened her mouth, presumably to retort. "No, no. _You_ don't get to talk. You're going to go over there and never look his way again." The girl raised her eyebrows. "Come, now. Shoo." The girl walked away, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "mad" and "crazy". "That's right," Lily called. "Run along."

She sighed blissfully and walked back to Giselle, who was sitting with her head in her hands. "Now, what did you want me to test you on?"

"Muggle Studies," said Giselle agitatedly.

"Ah. Right." Lily picked up a flashcard, and put it back down again. "You know what? I just _really_ can't concentrate right now, so I'm gonna go, okay? Great, thanks," she said, and walked out of the common room, pausing only to give James a nasty look, which, being passed out, he didn't see. She kept walking until she got into one of the castle's inner courtyards, which hardly anyone knew about, save her and her friends. She gasped as she saw Rose, who was sitting in an armchair in the corner. "Rose!" she said. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Rose apologized. "So, Sirius Black just asked me out." Lily's jaw dropped.

"Really? That's-Rose, I'm so happy for you-unless, is that bad?" For Rose was looking a bit too morose for someone who had just been asked out.

"No, it's great. I'm just a bit worried." Rose sighed. "The three of us have never had much luck with relationships. You and James, Giselle and Jared-these stories don't exactly have happy endings. Your heart is broken, and Giselle…hers is beyond repair." She sighed. "I don't want that to happen to me, and I know Sirius' track record isn't the best. He had had a _lot_ of girlfriends." She sighed again. "But, I want to say yes! Is that bad?"

"No, it's not," Lily said gently. "You deserve to be happy, even if the rest of us can't be. Sirius is a good person." She smiled at Rose. "And for the record, my heart is not broken, it's bloodthirsty. I'll be alright." Rose smiled at her.

"You're right." She stood up and said briskly, "Shall we go back to the common room? Tonight is our spa night thing. We need it."

"Yeah. Yeah, we should. I'll go to the kitchens and get us some scones or something."

Three hours later, Lily's face was refreshingly smooth and silky, her feet were nice and soft, and she couldn't wait to go to bed. She had apologized to Giselle for forgoing her studies and they all talked and laughed. It felt good to be happy again, even if it only was for one night.

Why couldn't she just give it up and be happy? It seemed like every time she found happiness, she took it away from herself. She should have said yes to James all those years ago…instead, she'd rejected him over and over and now it was making her sick. Ever since that day in the hospital, she'd done all she could to make his life hell and she had started feeling the loneliness and desperation of it all. She wasn't doing it because she hated James.

She was doing it because she loved him.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I know, I updated fast. You can thank me with reviews.

So, I have some questions. How do you want me to go about Lily and James? I already have the scene where they GET together written, but what about before then? Do you want me to get them together on Christmas, or before Christmas(the date right now is November 29, 1977)?

Let me know in those reviews!

**DesmondHume**


	14. 14: Love in the Time of Dinner Parties

Chapter 14

**Sirius**

Sirius furiously combed his hair back with Mr. Mel's Wonderful Gel, but it did nothing. His hair was simply too long for it to have any effect. "_Tergeo_," he muttered and cast the bottle aside, shaking his head like a dog. It didn't really matter; his hair had done wonders for him in the past. Not that he really wanted to think about the past.

James sauntered down the stairs, pausing to casually rumple his hair and grin at his reflection in the mirror. Sirius rolled his eyes. Sirius had been rolling his eyes at James a lot these past weeks. He seemed to have reverted to his pre-Lily days, hitting on women and playing with the Snitch a lot. But Sirius didn't have time to think about that right now.

"James, what do you think?" he said, standing back so James could catch the full effect.

"Dashing," James stated. "Truly debonair. Swashbuckling."

"Wow, that's a lot of adjectives," Sirius said. "I hope you weren't expecting me to say the same about you." James shot a Jellylegs jinx at Sirius, who dodged it, laughing. "Really though, mate, how do I look?"

"You look fine! Stop worrying. Rose is gonna love it." Remus walked into the room and promptly stopped.

"Whoa, Sirius! You've even got a flower in your button hole! Mate, don't you think you're a bit overdressed?"

"I think he looks alright," said Peter, who had slipped into the room without anyone knowing.

"Yeah, well, you would, Peter. But this is a casual dinner. I didn't even know you had a tux, mate," said James. "Me, I'm just wearing my dress robes."

"I wish I could go," said Peter longingly. "But Slughorn never invites me."

"Don't feel bad," said Sirius. "I don't get invited either."

"That's only because you got kicked out," Peter said ruefully. "He wanted you in the first place."

"Only because of my family," said Sirius, ripping off his bowtie and unbuttoning his first button. "Not because of anything _I_ did. It's better to be invited because you did something for yourself, like Moony," Sirius said, clapping him on the back. Remus smiled embarrassedly.

Sirius stood back and looked at himself in the mirror. Yes, it was much better without the flower or bowtie, although he was still wearing his cummerbund…well, he'd keep that on. Like James said, his tuxedo was debonair. Besides, it would give him practice for the Christmas Ball, which was white tie.

James snorted a little as Sirius straightened his lapel, and rumpled his hair again. "Are you ready to go then, Padfoot?" he asked sarcastically. Sirius nodded.

"I really think you should go, though, Moony," he said. "You never know, there might be some hot…books…there."

"Shut up," Remus muttered and threw a goblet at Sirius, who ducked.

"Your choice," he said. "Ready to go, Prongs?"

"Yeah," James said. "Let's do this." They walked out of the dormitory, Peter giving them a woeful stare, and down to the common room. He looked around, but Rose didn't seem to be down yet. However, Lily rose from the couch and came over to him. James walked away quickly.

"Hey, Sirius," she said. "Rose told me to tell you she'd be down in a minute. I think she's still trying to pick out her shoes, but she wouldn't let me help her." Sirius grinned.

"So who are you going with?" he asked. Lily looked down at her feet.

"No one. I wanted to…but he's still mad…and I couldn't…" She snuck a glance at James, who was staring moodily into the fire, and looked back down at her shoes.

"Look," Sirius said gently. "I know you and James have had…a lot of fights, especially this past year. But don't you think you can just…let all that go and apologize?"

"I've tried, Sirius. I mean, I haven't exactly said those words, but he knows I'm sorry. That's not the problem."

"You're just making excuses," he said. "If two people love each other, they should be together." His attention was broken as he saw Rose come down the stairs and trip over a bit of parchment on the floor. "Shit," she muttered and blushed as she saw Sirius.

She was beautiful. Her hair was half-up half-down in loose curls. She was wearing an auburn dress and black pumps, with an ornate necklace. Sirius wondered where she got it. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. She nodded.

"Lily, do you want to walk with us or-?"

"No, I'll walk with…"she looked around and gestured at a fifth-year boy, who looked up, startled. Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Okay." She looked at Sirius questioningly and he held out his arm, which she took. James winked at him. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah." They walked out of the portrait hole, leaving the Fat Lady calling compliments to them. "You look beautiful," Sirius said genuinely. "Especially your necklace, where did you get it?"

"My mother gave it to me for my seventeenth birthday. It's a family heirloom, I suppose; she got it for her seventeenth, as did my grandmother. It's just one of those things-you know how it is. Or do you?"

"Yeah. But with most people it's something a bit…smaller, I suppose."

"Well." Rose smiled. "Our families aren't like most, Sirius. You know that." Sirius sighed.

"That's for sure. I'd think it would be different in America, though." Rose shook her head.

"Not really. Our traditions are different, I suppose, but it's the same behind closed doors." She looked up at him. "There may be stigmas associated with being powerful and wealthy. But there are also benefits. You know as well as I do that you can't help where you come from." They had reached the door of Slughorn's office.

"As I'm sure you know that your family name doesn't dictate who you are." They grinned at each other. "Come on," he muttered and held the door open for her. "After vous."

**Lily**

Lily sat back down on the couch, mulling over what Sirius had said. He was right. Something had to be done. She sighed. Was this what James had felt like? Was she feeling what he had felt, now that their situations were reversed?

Well, he might have been able to stomach it for six years, but no way was Lily going to. She was going to tell him how she felt, and she was doing it tonight.

She looked around the room, and she saw him leaving the common room alone. The sixth year girl from yesterday was pouting in the corner, giving Lily a contemptuous look. Tramp.

She gathered her skirt and followed James out the door as it began to rain.

**James**

James was sitting at the table in between Sirius and a boy from Ravenclaw. Lily was sitting across from him, looking determinedly at him. What was she trying to get him to do?

He looked over at Sirius and saw him laughing at something Rose had said. Rose would be good for them; they were the same. Unlike him and Lily…

He mentally shook himself as several stout house-elves came out of nowhere, bearing large trays of meat pies and tripe on their heads. This was the fifth course, and they weren't even close to having dessert. James didn't think he could eat anymore.

"Professor Slughorn, may I be excused?" he said loudly. Slughorn stopped his anecdotage of the 1950s witch activists and looked up in surprise, his chin wobbling.

"My dear boy, are you alright?"

"Oh-er, no. I'm feeling quite-erm, quite awful. I'm going to the hospital wing. Thanks for the dinner, it was really..." He cleared his throat and left the room, looking meaningfully at Sirius.

As he left the room, he felt the cold night air on his face and buttoned his cloak. It was raining. He hadn't noticed that on the walk over here, but he'd noticed Lily following him and so took a back route to Slughorn's office. He wished he hadn't gone; he was actually starting to feel a bit sick now. Perhaps the rain would help him. He could always tell Filch he had heard something suspicious and had gone outside to check. He slipped through a crack in the wall that he had covered with magic long ago and started to walk.

**Sirius**

Sirius had had a really good time, possibly the best he'd had since he'd been at Hogwarts this year. During the dinner he'd heartily abused Slughorn's party with Rose, who could do a pretty good impression of the Potions master. They'd talked about her life on the Upper East Side, and he learned that her father was English and went to Hogwarts, which was why Rose had gone. Her mother was a muggle, but part of an influential family within the wizarding community. Only a few ancient muggle families had been exempt to the Statute of Secrecy, excluding the people who had married wizards, and they had the equivalent of pure-blood status.

Sirius couldn't help but feel slightly akin to Rose. They had the mostly the same background, and were taking the same classes. The only difference was in how they felt about their families.

"Rose, I feel like I should tell you something." They were sitting on a stone bench outside of the Prefect's bathrooms.

"What is it?" He took a breath.

"I ran away from home last summer. I went to James'. They took me in like a second son. I…I owe them everything." She didn't say anything for a minute.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry." Sirius shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry. This is only our first date." She grinned a little. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I felt like I should tell you. I didn't want you to have any misconceptions about how I feel about my family." Rose reached out and took his hand.

"It's okay. I'm glad you told me. We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to."

"You're the only one who knows, besides James and Dumbledore." She nodded.

"I won't say anything." They got up, still holding hands. "I really like you, Sirius. I'm glad you asked me out." He grinned.

"I'm glad you said yes." They were silent as they walked back to the common room.

"Good night, Rose. I hope the next time we go out I won't have to be James' date." She laughed.

"I don't think that will be an issue. Good night, Sirius. I'll see you tomorrow." She walked up the stairs to her dormitory, holding her dress up with one hand.

He couldn't wait to do that again.

**James**

James wandered aimlessly through the grounds, feeling the rain against his face. What was that noise? He turned around and saw a dark shape coming towards him and he thought he caught a flash of ginger hair. The rain was coming harder now, making 'James' clothes stick to his skin and his glasses useless. "James!" she yelled, and he only caught a second of her barreling towards him before she tackled him to the ground.

"Lily! Have you gone mad?" he shouted.

"Yes," she said, a gleam in her eye. The rain was so loud he could hardly hear her. "Yes, I'm quite mad, thanks to you."

"Thanks to _me_?" James was indignant. "Why?"

"Because, you idiot," she half-shouted. "You made me fall in love with you. I love you." The rain was coming in torrents now, and James could hardly see for the rain on his glasses, but he didn't care.

"What did you just say?" he asked. Had _he_ gone mad?

"I said, I love you! Which you would know by now if you wouldn't have avoided me these past months!" She got off of him and sat up, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

"Are you serious? You love me _now_? But I've been so unreasonable!" She grinned at him but didn't say anything. "So, all of these years have finally paid off? You mean to say that after all of this, you finally love me? It worked?" She nodded. He stood up, walked over to her, and sat down. Thunder rumbled, shaking the grounds. He felt all of his anger at her disappear. "Well then, Lily. Chasing you has been fun. I'm quite sure I'm going to miss it." He leaned his forehead on hers, their noses touching. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ears and murmured, "Kiss me."

And she did.

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note:**

Happy Valentines Day everybody! I thought I would do something special for you guys.

Now, a couple of things:

1: Fkj, if you read this, I never said Lily's eyes were blue. Perhaps you should go back and read Chapter Two again.

2: shoshona79, James is not the Seeker, he is Chaser.

Thanks for all of your reviews! Now, if I could _just_ get five this time-I don't think that's too much to ask for, do you? After all, I updated fast and I got Lily and James together!

**DesmondHume**


	15. Chapter 15: Happy Days

Chapter 15

**Lily**

Lily was the happiest she'd ever been. Ever since that night, two days ago, she'd felt rapturously, gleefully in love. James was the best thing that had ever happened to her. How had she lived without him for this long?

She sighed blissfully, stirring her pumpkin juice with a spoon. Rose looked over at her and rolled her eyes. "Lily, for god's sake, snap out of it," she said. Lily blushed.

"Sorry! I can't help it, though. I just-well, I can't really explain it! I'm so happy!" Rose smiled.

"Well, I know what you mean, but I can control myself." Giselle snorted.

"_Control_ yourself? You call making out with Sirius in between classes, and flailing about in the common room at all hours controlling yourself? Ha," Giselle ended haughtily.

"I do not _flail_. And we do not!" Rose said in a rather high-pitched voice. She picked up her books and walked over to the door, pausing to look back at them. "Well, only a little," she said, grinning, and went out.

"So...have you got your eye on anyone?" Lily asked timidly. Giselle suddenly looked shifty.

"Maybe," she said annoyingly.

"Really? Who?" Lily asked. She was happy for Giselle-maybe she could finally move on after everything that happened to her. Well-move on as much as was possible, anyway...there are some things you just can't get past.

"Jack Ginzburg. You know him, Lily."

"Oh yeah," Lily said slowly. "He's cute! Has he...or have you...has anyone asked anyone out?"

"No...it's not really like that. Yet. But it will be. You'll see! I-" Lily stopped listening as James came out of the dormitories, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His hair was all messed up. Lily grinned.

"Hey, Lil," he said. Giselle smiled.

"I'm gonna go...erm, find Rose," she said. She left the common room quickly, winking at Lily. James threw himself down on the couch and placed his head in Lily's lap. A band of third-years looked on with jealousy.

"Hi," she said, and bent down to kiss him. He sighed as she put her head back up.

"How was your day?" he murmured.

"Fine. And you?"

"Good. The usual. More," he said and pulled her head back down, smiling as their lips met. "Yum," he said. "I still can't believe I get to do that."

"Well, you'd better believe it," Lily said, "Because you don't know what you're in for."

**Rose**

"Sirius," Rose whispered as he led her down the hall. "Where are we going? It's past curfew! We're supposed to be in our dormitories." They turned the corner, arriving at a blank wall.

"We're here," Sirius announced. Rose looked around.

"Er-we're _where_, exactly?"

"Right here," he said happily. "Just stay there for a minute." He let go of her hand and paced back in front of the wall, and as Rose watched, a bright red pair of french doors appeared.

"Whoa," she gasped. "We're here indeed!" Sirius stepped in front of her, eyes animated.

"It's called the Room of Requirement," he explained. "James and I found it in second year, when we were looking for Peter's pet rat. Do you want to go in?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, and pushed past him, opening the door.

The room was a creamy color, with sort of gauzy drapes hanging from the ceiling. There were enormous shelves filled with books, and a cozy fireplace in the middle of the room with a chimney leading up to the ceiling. As Rose looked, she saw that the fire was glittery and shimmery.

In front of the fireplace was a large purple couch. There was a side table with two bottles of butterbeer and a tray of little cakes. Rose grinned.

"Sirius," she said smilingly, turning around to look at him. "Who knew you were a romantic?"

"No one, before you," he said. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, it's beautiful. Does it look like this all the time, or is this where you were at lunch?" He cleared his throat.

"Well, I had Moony help me some, and the house-elves brought the cakes, but it was mostly me!" he said, embarrassed. "And that's sort of the magic of the room. It'll do whatever you want; that's why it's called the Room of Requirement. When James and I came here first, it was filled with ears of corn and a giant wheel."

"Do you think anyone else knows about it?" Rose inquired.

"I'm sure a couple of people know, and Dumbledore. But for now, it's just you and me." He smiled endearingly at her.

"Aaw. Come here," she said, and pulled him to her by his tie. "This-was-really-sweet," she said to him in between kisses.

"I thought you'd like it," he whispered. "I know you're not much of a romantic, but everyone needs a little romance in their lives. Luckily for you, I'm pretty damn good at it."

"Oh, I know," she said, breaking away and heading for the couch. She patted the seat beside her. "Sit," she commanded. Sirius sat, and she handed him a butterbeer, sinking into his shoulders. "So Giselle, and apparently everyone else, thinks we writhe around all day, making out," she complained. "But we don't _really_, do we?"

"Nah," said Sirius. "At least, not inordinately. Besides, they're just jealous." He took a swig of butterbeer and smacked his lips appreciatively.

"Yeah," she said. "They're jealous. Why wouldn't they be?" Sirius chuckled.

"Exactly. Why do you care what everyone else thinks, anyway?" he asked.

"Well...I don't," she said slowly. "I do care about what my friends think, though. But if they don't like it," she put hers and Sirius' butterbeers on the table, and turned to face him, "They don't have to deal with it." He grinned and leaned into her.

"That's what I like to hear," he whispered. "No let's prove them wrong."

"How? By making out?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her full on the lips.

"That's right."

**Giselle**

Giselle had not gone to find Rose, as Sirius had told her what he was planning. Instead, she went to Madam Pomfrey's office to see if she needed any help. However, when she got to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was asleep and nobody else was there.

Now she was sitting by the hearth, humming to Rose's Led Zeppelin vinyl and absentmindedly doodling on a scratch of parchment. She looked at the clock. It was ten o'clock.

Yawning, she got up and crossed the room. Remus was slumped over a table, lying on his textbook. Peter was next to him, sprawled on the floor. "This is ridiculous," she muttered, and walked back to the fireplace. Sitting down, she saw Jack Ginzburg enter the common room, laughing at one of his friends. She quickly looked down and started picking at her nails.

"Hey," she heard someone say, and jumped. It was Jack.

"Hey," she said breathily. "Er-what's up?" His friend wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"I was wondering if you could help me with my..." he stared at her blankly. "Erm, Ancient Runes," he said, rather vaguely.

"Oh. Well, I would, but I don't take Ancient Runes," she said. "Sorry."

"Ah. Well, in that case, how about Arithmancy?" She made a face.

"Astronomy? Herbology?" She grinned.

"I can help you with both of those, if you need it," she said, laughing. "But I doubt you do." Slightly red in the face, he unpacked his books.

"I do need help with my Runes, though," he murmured.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Oh dear lord. I am so, so, so sorry about the hiatus! I was studying for the SATs and I absolutely did not have time for anything else. **

**You guys don't even have to give me any reviews for this chapter(for two reasons: 1, it's not very good, and 2, it has been such a terribly long time). Although you are still welcome and encouraged to do so!**

**I'm sorry!**

**DesmondHume**


	16. Chapter 16: Lie to Me

Chapter 16

**Rose**

James scooted next to Rose and sat down, staring expectantly at her.

"Um. Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said. He cleared his throat. Rose slammed her book shut and turned around to face him.

"What? Why are you staring at me all creepy?"

"Creepy? Who's being creepy? I just wanted to say that you were right."

"Oh, I was right. Okay. That's all cleared up then." She frowned at him.

"Well, do you remember, on the Hogwarts Express, when you said that if I wasn't all clingy and if I played my cards right, I could get Lily?"

"Er-kind of. Vaguely," she said, confused.

"Well. I just wanted to say, you were right."

"Okay..." her voice trailed off as James continued to look owlishly at her. "Er...is that all, then?"

"Yes." Rose raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," she said uncertainly. "Well, I'll be going now. Um, bye." She got up and left James there, nodding to himself and grinning. She thought she heard the words 'Lily' and 'got her' again. Shaking her head a little, she walked outside on the springy grass and caught sight of Sirius heading to Herbology. She ran to catch up with him. "Hey," she said, slightly out of breath. "I just had the weirdest...encounter with James. Thanks," she said, as he handed her his bottle of water.

"What kind of encounter?"

"Well, it was sort of drivel, really. I don't know. He was talking about Lily, and he said I was right, and that he got her?"

"Oh, that," Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, he's been doing that lately. I think he's just really happy about it. I mean, he did spend seven years of his life chasing her; he's bound to be a little weird about it sometimes. Well, he's just bound to be weird sometimes anyway," sighed Sirius. "But, that's James. How are you?" he asked, giving her waist a squeeze. "I know you've been stressing about our Arithmancy test on Friday, but don't worry! You'll be fine. I'll help you study tonight and tomorrow," he said, kissing her on the forehead. A first year flinched.

"Thanks. I know I'll be fine. I'm usually anxious until the test is put in front of me; after that, I get into test mode, and I just nail it!" she said spiritedly. Sirius chuckled.

"Well, I never get nervous. What's the point?" Rose rolled her eyes.

"You can't help being nervous. At least, _I_ can't. It's just part of my process. Besides," she said smugly. "I _always_ ace them anyway. Unlike some people." Sirius stopped walking and looked at her.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Rose grinned devilishly.

"I don't know. What do you think I'm saying?"

"I _think_," Sirius said, "That you're saying I don't do as well as you in class."

"Oh, Sirius," Rose said sweetly, "That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying _nobody_ does as well as me in class."

"Really? How much do you want to bet?" Sirius asked, getting within inches of her face.

"How about this. If I score better than you on this Arithmancy test, then you have to do whatever I want. If _you_ score better than me, which you won't, then I have to do what _you_ want."

"Deal. Shake." They shook hands, looking challengingly into each other's eyes. "This is hot," said Sirius. "One last kiss before we get too competitive?" Rose stepped forward and kissed him, biting his lip a little. Sirius moaned.

"We'll see how much you moan when you lose," Rose whispered into his ear. "Bye, Sirius."

**Lily**

Lily gasped as Rose came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She had been daydreaming about Christmas break-which was only three weeks away!

"What?" she snapped.

"Will you help me study?" Rose asked.

"For what? Why are you in a frenzy?" Lily asked. "Calm down!" Rose's hair was in a bun-always a sign that she was going someplace fancy, or in study/panic mode. "What's wrong?" Rose sighed and sat down.

"Well, I am in a sort of...competition, against Sirius. I bet him that I would win-I mean, get a higher score on our Arithmancy test."

"Why?" Lily groaned.

"I don't know! It seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess! But I just talked with Remus, and he says that Arithmancy and Defense Against the Dark Arts are Sirius' best subjects. Apparently he never gets below an E equivalent."

"Yeah, but Rose," Lily said, "You never get below an E either. Arithmancy is your best subject! You're a genius, you know that!"

"Yeah, that's true," Rose said seriously. "But that means that I'm going up against an _equal_, who, by the way, I happen to be going out with!"

"Rose, calm yourself. You and Sirius are fine. It's a friendly competition between two people, that's all. Besides, you'll win anyway! I know you. And what do you get if you win?" Lily asked.

"Oh. That." Rose plopped herself down next to Lily. "Well, it's kind of up in the air. We said that whoever loses has to do whatever the winner wants."

"_Oh_." Lily was quiet for a minute. "Don't you think that if he wins, he'll want you to do something...you know. Sexual?" Rose knit her eyebrows together.

"I don't know. We've only been going out for like a week, and we haven't done anything besides kiss."

"Rose, this is _Sirius_ we're talking about. Remember last week, when Sirius had just asked you out, and we were talking in the courtyard?" Rose nodded. "Well, I reassured you that Sirius was a good person. Which he is, which I'm sure you know. But that doesn't equate with him being...innocent." Lily sighed. "James and I have talked about you guys a little bit. James thinks that he's had sex before. And Rose...he _has_ had a lot of girlfriends. Remember when he was dating Sarah Keys?" Rose nodded again, looking troubled. "Well...there was a rumor going around that they...you know." She stopped talking.

"So what do I do?" Rose asked anxiously.

"Well...I guess you should do what you want to do. If you _want_ to...you know...then, do. But I don't think you do." Rose shook her head.

"At least, well, not yet. How should I tell him?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me." Lily sighed. "You know who's really good at this stuff? Remus."

"Ha. No thanks, I'm good. I'll...I guess I'll figure it out if it comes to that. Which it won't," she said determinedly, smoothing her skirt, "Because I'm winning anyway. Now, functions."

o.O.o

Forty-five minutes later, Lily was in the kitchens with James. James handed her a macaron with lemon curd. "So, Sirius and Rose are happy," he said conversationally.

"Yum. Oh. Yeah, they are."

"What?" His eyebrows knitted together.

"Nothing. They're having a little competition is all." James chuckled.

"That's like them. Two competitive people. I'm glad you and I aren't like that," he said, handing her a piece of cranberry scone.

"Mm. That's amazing. No, I'm glad we're not like that either, but we're not them, are we? To each his own," she quoted contentedly. "Enough about them. I never knew you could cook!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah. Haha. My aunt taught me. She owns a pastry shop in Edinburgh, and she used to come to our house when I was on holiday. I mostly know how to make desserts, but my mum has taught me a little cooking. Try this," he offered, and held out a forkful of tiramisu. "It's my specialty. I'm quite good," he said cheerfully. Lily took the fork and tasted it.

"Oh, god," she said with her mouth full. "Oh my god. Wow. James Harold Potter, I have never loved you more." He blushed. "I'm serious. This is amazing. I didn't know food could taste like this!"

"Well, like I said...it's my specialty."

"When do you have time to make all this?" she inquired.

"I don't, really...but as it's a one time thing and I know how you love desserts...I thought I would show you one of my many talents," he said, taking a bow.

"Wait a minute, back up. A one time thing? You mean you're never making me this, this _love affair_ again? Well," she said, snatching the dish of tiramisu from him. "I'm gonna take this, then."

"Okay," he said, laughing. "By the way, you have whipped cream on your lips."

"I don't care," she said happily, as she licked the fork clean.

"Well, I do. Let me take care of that for you." He grabbed Lily's face and licked the side of her mouth. "Mm. You're right, that is good."

"Eew! James, what the hell?" she laughed. "Something is _wrong_ with you!" She scooped a spoonful of whipped cream and flung it on his shirt. He looked up slowly, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Lily. Great Hall, second year. Remember?" She gasped.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would." He grabbed a bowl of flour and dumped it on her head, as she screamed and ducked.

"No! My hair! You'll pay for that one, Potter!" Lily growled, and picking up a bottle of chocolate syrup, she squirted it on his pants. "I got you n-aaaaaah!" James had just thrown a handful of sprinkles at her. "James!" she yelled, laughing, and ran around the kitchen as he pelted her with various desserts. The house-elves were watching in glee, and one of them yelled squeakily: "Get him, Miss Evans!" And get him she did. Ten minutes and a fourteen kinds of food later, they were lying on the floor, exhausted.

"Wow. I think that was more intense than five years ago," James said, and licked his arm. "Yum."

"Well, it was definitely more fun." She licked his arm too. "Mm. That _is_ good." She sighed. "Pity the tiramisu's gone, though."

"Yeah. Well, who knows. Maybe I'll make it again sometime. Oh," he said, propping himself up on his elbows and grunting. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Will you...I mean, do you want to come to London with me over Christmas break?" he asked, his eyes shining. Lily didn't say anything. "I mean...you don't have to. I just thought...Sirius was going to ask Rose, and Peter and Remus are already allowed to come. I thought it would be fun. But I understand if you don't," he said quickly.

"No. James, I'd love to. Really," she said reassuringly. "I just got taken aback for a minute. I still have to ask my parents, but I'm sure they'll say it's okay, especially if Rose will be there. What about Giselle?" she asked.

"Remus was asking Giselle. I don't know. But-you'll come? If you're allowed?" he asked uncertainly, his eyes hopeful. Lily smiled broadly.

"Yes. Yes, I'll come! Ooh, I'm so excited!" she exclaimed. "Do you know, Rose's family have a house in London! I'm sure they'd let us use it."

"Really? We were going to stay in a hotel, but if she has a house...where is it? Because Sirius and I kind of wanted to stay in the city."

"Well...it's not really a house, it's in a hotel. I think it's at the Ritz-Carlton." James' mouth was agape.

"A house at the Ritz? Who _is_ Rose?"

"Rose Waldorf...is Rose Waldorf." James' jaw dropped.

"As in, _the_ Waldorfs? Wow. I didn't know that. I should have figured, I guess." He was quiet for a moment. "So, break is a three weeks. We wanted to go for nineteen days. That gives us a whole day to pack and a whole day to adjust ourselves back at Hogwarts before class starts. Sound good? Oh-if your parents want any information, they should contact my parents. They have a-" Lily silenced him with a kiss. He tasted like strawberries and cinnamon.

"I'm really excited, James." She licked a bit of pancake batter off his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too." They lay there for a while, Lily's head resting on James' arm, and didn't even notice the house-elves peeking over cabinet doors and from behind the great gas stoves.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hi! I updated fast(I'm still sorry).**

**What do you guys think? Are you excited about their Christmas plans? **

**I'll just say this-don't get too excited. There will be some...bumps...in the road.**

**What are some things that you guys would like to happen? If you leave me some comments, I might incorporate them in somehow.**

**Who is your favorite couple so far? Do you want more of Giselle, Remus, and Peter?**

**Review. Please review! Review!**

**DesmondHume**


	17. Chapter 17: Sunburn

Chapter 17

**Sirius**

"The dragon species _Dragonia Angelica_ went extinct in 1643, which is the same year that the Witches of Belfast made a treaty on the protection for the endangerment of..." Sirius yawned and tuned Professor Binns out. History of Magic was perhaps the most boring class in the history of magic. Sirius chuckled at himself and turned to look at Rose, who was sitting two rows in front of him. She was paying rapt attention to Professor Binns, and jotting down notes so hard that her quill spattered ink all over her robes.

"Shit," she cursed. "_Tergeo._" The ink disappeared and she went back to taking notes. Sirius turned back to the front of the classroom. She had been acting a little weird lately...perhaps James knew something about it. He turned to his left to ask him, but then remembered that James was at Quidditch practice. The weather had been so awful lately that Gryffindor had begged for more practice hours, and McGonagall, being an ardent Quidditch fan herself, had granted them one class hour a week until the match just before Christmas.

He decided to start listening to Professor Binns again, in case he was saying something remotely interesting. The chances were not high.

"...would like a roll of parchment by Monday," he was saying. "Class dismissed!" There was the usual sigh of relief by the people who were awake, and the ones who had been dozing awoke with a grunt.

"So...what does Binns want a roll of parchment on?" Sirius asked Remus as they walked out of class. Remus answered monotonously,

"Dragon extinction. You know, you really need to pay attention. I don't know _how _you passed your O.W.L.!"

"Oh, shut it. I pay attention well enough," Sirius said. Remus shook his head.

"You _passed_ it because the proctor was female. You know it!" Sirius grinned wolfishly.

"Well, it doesn't hurt having my looks. Oh-did you ask Giselle about Christmas?"

"Yeah. She said she would have to ask her mum, but she was pretty sure she could go. Have you asked Rose yet?"

"No. I was gonna ask her tonight. I'm a bit worried, actually, she's been acting a little weird. Do you know anything about that?" Remus ran his hands through his hair anxiously.

"Er...I meant to say something about that, but I hoped I wouldn't have to. Before you asked her out, I said something about you and your previous girlfriends. But I didn't mean to, and I thought I made it right! I'm sorry, mate," Remus said apologetically. Sirius sighed.

"_Why_? Moony, Rose isn't like all the other girls. Ugh," he groaned. "_Now_ what am I gonna do?"

"I don't know. Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to talk to her again? I can try and make it right-"

"Moony," he said seriously, "If there is one thing you can do to help, it's to not talk to her. For a _while._ Okay?" he asked.

"Okay. You're not mad, are you?"

"No," Sirius exhaled. "I'll figure it out. And it's not like you said anything that wasn't true, anyway," he said moodily. "See you later." He clapped Remus on the back, and walked outside to Care of Magical Creatures.

o.O.o

That night after dinner, Sirius was walking to the Room of Requirement to meet Rose when Giselle bumped into him. "Oh-hey!" she said, startled.

"Hey." He eyed her up and down. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just coming back from the library; I had to drop some stuff off. Where are you going?" She started walking with him.

"I was going to the-er, somewhere to talk to Rose," he said. He'd forgotten that the Room of Requirement was supposed to be a secret.

"Rose? Are you going to ask her about London?" She grinned. "Remus asked me this morning at breakfast! I can't wait, I already sent my mum a letter. I hope it'll be okay...I usually spend Christmas with her and my sister, but maybe this year...well, we'll see." She broke off as a vaguely familiar looking boy passed them and smiled at Giselle, who blushed and looked at the floor.

"Ooh. Who's that?" Sirius asked playfully.

"That was Jack. You know, the one I told you about?" Sirius smirked. They had reached the tapestry of ballet-dancing trolls.

"Oh, I remember. I'm glad I can put a face to the name." He grunted. "Well, I have to get to Rose, so..." he trailed off.

"Oh. Right, of course-good luck, Sirius! I'm sure she'll say yes." She beamed at him and practically skipped down the hall. Sirius watched her for a minute, then opened the door, shaking his head. Rose looked up from her book, per usual.

"Hey," she called.

"Hey. What are you reading?" He walked over and caught a glimpse of her book before she managed to stuff it in her bag. "_A Guide to the Power of Numbers: Computational Mathematics and Integral Calculus_? Rose." He sighed. "You really are bent on beating me, aren't you?" She smiled at him.

"I am. It's high-priority on my list, especially since Lily told me you're really good at arithmancy. Luckily I am too, but I just needed a little brushing up." She looked at him from beneath her eyelashes. "I hope you've been practicing, too."

"Oh, I certainly have. How's about you stop studying and you sit down? I have something to ask you." She looked at him curiously.

"Okay..." They sat down on a pair of poufs that neither of them had noticed before, and Sirius cleared his throat.

"So, the thing is, James, Peter, Remus and I were going to London for break this year. You know, kind of a last-year-at-Hogwarts kind of thing." Rose nodded, her eyebrows furrowed. "We were planning on about two and a half weeks. But now James and Lily are together, and...well, so are you and I. And neither of us wanted to leave you guys for that long. So, do you want to come?" he asked hopefully.

"You mean, two and a half weeks with you, James, Peter, Remus, Lily, and-wait, did you say Giselle?"

"I didn't, but she is coming, yeah."

"Hmm. I'll have to think about it." Sirius looked at her in bewilderment. Her eyes were glittering. "Okay. I've thought about it." She didn't say anything.

"And?" Sirius asked.

"Alright. I'll go." She smiled. "This is great! You know we have a house in London."

"Yeah, James did say something about that. Will your parents let us use it?"

"Of course! What do you think it's there for?" she laughed. "Kiss me, Sirius." He leaned forward and kissed her. She was a really good kisser, possibly the best he'd had so far. He'd have to tell her that someday. "Mm. I don't know how I'm going to make it another two and a half weeks," she groaned. "I want to go to London _now_! Think of all the shopping we'll get to do!" she said ecstatically.

"Yeah. Shopping. That's what it's about," he said sarcastically. She hit him on the shoulder.

"Shut up. I can't _wait_ to dress you up," she said. "Oh, the joy!"

**Lily**

Lily was sitting at the common room table, breaking off small pieces of a Honeydukes toffee-nougat chocolate bar, twirling a piece of hair, and trying to concentrate on her Astronomy chart. Honestly, at this moment, she didn't really care about its orbital period. She was trying to keep her eyes open. Blinking rapidly, she finally gave up and slumped down into her chair. Finally, some sleep. She'd been staying up late with James for a while, and hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep in three days. Which was alright, but all she wanted to do right now was sink into oblivion.

"Lily?" Giselle's voice sounded gently in her right ear. Lily didn't move. "Lily, I know you're awake. I just watched you close your eyes." Lily grunted but didn't say anything. "Lily! Wake up, I want to talk to you about something." Giselle prodded her in the shoulder until Lily opened an eye.

"What?" she said exasperatedly. "I'm so tired, can you make this quick?" Giselle nodded and folded her hands in a business-like manner.

"Right. I wanted to talk to you about that boy, Jack." Lily sat up, all traces of her fatigue gone.

"Really? That's so great! He's a really great guy, Giz." Giselle nodded, smiling into her hair.

"I know. I feel like I can finally...move on. Or at least, start moving on." She looked up. "After what happened last year, I felt like my life was over. I was so embarrassed. I felt dirty, used...spent, like an old dog that no one wants to take care of." She sighed. "But I got through it, you know? I think I'm ready now." Lily hesitated.

"Ready, as in ready to start moving on? Or ready to tell people what happened?" Giselle shook her head adamantly.

"No one else can know. I didn't even mean for my parents to find out. I guess I'm glad they did, but they didn't need any more stress on them. I mean, the year my parents have had! And my poor father," she sighed.

"I know," Lily said, squeezing her hand. "He's such a great man, Giselle. He didn't deserve that. But I know they're getting through it as well as possible."

"I just didn't want to burden them," she said. Lily looked at her.

"Giselle. It was not a burden. Those are the kinds of things that parents _need_ to know; that people who love you need to know."

"I guess," Giselle said in a small voice. But then she looked up, a resolute glint in her eye. "I'm not going to let it hurt me anymore, though. I'm not going to let _him_..Jared. I'm not going to let Jared hurt me anymore. I survived that, I can survive this too." Lily nodded.

"Yeah. You can. And Jack's a hottie!" she said, trying to lighten the mood.. "You got lucky!"

"Yeah, well nothing's happened yet," Giselle said. "But you're right. At least he doesn't look like _James_." Lily's jaw dropped.

"You did not just say that. James is the most beautiful creature on this earth!" Giselle rolled her eyes.

"He's cute, I guess. But eew." Lily withdrew her hand from Giselle's and surveyed her haughtily.

"He _is_ cute. And handsome," she said defiantly. "I'm going to bed, _if_ you don't mind." She gave Giselle a once-over. "Hmmph," she said, and walked away, her bag trailing behind her.

"O-kay," Giselle said to herself. "Mental note: Don't say anything remotely bad about James." She rolled her eyes and threw herself on Lily's vacated chair, and picked up her half-eaten bar of chocolate. "She won't mind if I take this. I like chocolate more, anyway."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So, no reviews. Okay.**

**This will be the last chapter until my AP exams are over. My last exam is May 9th, so...it's going to be a while.**

**HOWEVER. If I get less than 7 reviews for THIS chapter, I will delay updating by another three weeks! Don't put it past me, I'll do it. I am craving reviews. And 7 is hardly any at all.**

**Honestly, come on. I got over a _thousand_ hits last chapter. Guess how many reviews? Well, I already said it! 0! This is unacceptable.**

**I still love you guys. Come on, just review! PLEASE _PLEASE _review, okay? Please!**

**DesmondHume**


	18. Chapter 18: The Test

Chapter 18

**Lily**

Lily slid on a pair of high-waisted jeans. Muggle clothes could be quite comfortable, and she was glad that the wizarding world was finally starting to catch on.

She brushed her hair, slung it into a ponytail, and bounced down the stairs. Sirius looked up at her, amused. He marked the page of his book and said, "What's up with you today? Why are you so happy?"

"I don't know. Just excited, I guess. Only one day until break, and the ball is tomorrow night, and then we're going to London, and then my birthday-I'm just excited about life in general, I guess." She sat down next to him and put her feet up on the coffee table. "What, don't you ever get like that?" He looked thoughtful.

"Well, I guess I do. Mostly when I'm with Rose, though." He looked at her and blinked. "Has she said anything to you about me?"

"Yeah. She talks about you a lot. In the past few days it's mostly been about beating you in this _stupid_ competition that you guys are having." Lily rolled her eyes. "Why are you doing that again?"

"I don't know. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess." He chuckled. "She's not too worried about it, though?"

"Worried?" Lily scoffed. "No, she's not worried. She's practically singing; she can't _wait_ to beat you." Sirius grinned and pushed his hair back with his hand, letting out a sigh.

"Do you think I should let her? Win?" Lily shook her head.

"No. If there's anything she hates in this world, it's dishonesty-and trust me, that would count. Just do your best, and don't worry about it, because I'm sure she'll beat you anyway.

"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence," Sirius said sarcastically. "Well, we'll find out at dinner, won't we? The tests are self-grading." He got up and stretched. "I'm gonna go to breakfast. Wanna come with?" She shook her head.

"No, I'm supposed to wait for James."

"Yeah. Well, good luck with that. He takes _forever _to get ready in the mornings." Sirius trotted out of the portrait hole. Well, he got that right. James did take forever, usually longer than Lily. She wondered what he could be doing.

She was about to get up and look, but the door barged open and James practically fell out of it, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, hey Lil!" he said sleepily. "Sorry that took so long, I was...brushing my teeth." Lily narrowed her eyes.

"Well hurry up; everyone else is already down at breakfast and you _know_ that Rose takes all the muffins. I haven't had a proper muffin since I've been at Hogwarts."

"Right." James was quiet as they walked. Then he suddenly asked, "Lily, what do you want for your birthday?" She looked at him.

"James. My birthday isn't for a month. You don't have to worry about this now."

"Well, see, I _do._ Because every gift I've ever gotten you, you've hated! Probably as much as you hated me. And now we're together. I want you to love it. So what do you want? Jewelry?" He answered his own question. "No, it can't be jewelry, because I remember that necklace I gave you last year. You loathed that thing so much you didn't even _keep_ it," he said in a hurt tone of voice. Lily felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"James, come here." She led him over to a little alcove with a bench, and they sat down. He looked at her, bemused. "I need to tell you something, okay? And I need you to listen."

"Okay," he said nervously. She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry about how I acted. I never apologized to you. I was...abominable. I treated you so badly and you did nothing except try and prove your feelings to me, over and over again." He said nothing, but he was looking at her intensely, his eyebrows furrowed. "I'm sorry I hurt you, James," she breathed. "I never hated you." She put her hands around his face and he leaned into her. "I want to show you something," she whispered. She put one hand down her shirt and James raised his eyebrows.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She pulled out a gold necklace.

"I wanted to show you this." She reached behind her neck and unclasped it, and put it into his hands. "I didn't throw it away. I never threw away anything you gave me. I've worn this almost every day since you gave it to me last year. I think I always knew, no matter how deep down, that someday you would mean something to me." She sniffed. "I just needed you to know that. I-" She was interrupted as James hugged her tightly. He buried his face in between her shoulder and neck, and she rubbed his back. They remained that way until James lifted his head up. He pulled back until only their noses and foreheads were touching, much like the night Lily had told him she loved him.

"I know, Lily," he whispered. "I've always known that. Why do you think I was so persistent?" He kissed her lips. "I forgave you a long time ago. I wouldn't change a thing."

**Sirius**

Rose leaned up against Sirius' legs and he started to play with her hair. Suddenly his lips were at her ear. "Rose, I'm going to ask you something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time."

"Yes?" she said, her heart beginning to pound.

"Will you tell me...how do you make a braid?" She turned around and began to whack him with a pillow as he started laughing.

"Sirius!" she moaned. "Don't do that again!" He cackled and held his hands up in front of his face.

"Okay, okay," he laughed. "Sorry. But I _have_ always wanted to know. Will you show me?" She rolled her eyes and pouted for a minute until he promised to buy all of Honeydukes' chocolate for her this weekend.

"Fine," she huffed. "Giselle, come here." She seemed to scoop Giselle out of thin air and sit her down, piecing her hair into three chunks. "Do you want French or regular?"

"I'll take French," Sirius said slyly and French-kissed her.

"Sirius!" Rose squealed, swatting his arm as Giselle made retching noises. "I meant the braid."

"I know what you meant," he chuckled. "Regular." He smirked and sat back down.

"_Anyway_," Rose said, dividing Giselle's hair again. "You take one from the right, and place it over the middle. Then you take one from the left, and place it over the middle. And you just keep doing that until you run out of hair. Does that make sense?" she asked.

"Nope," Sirius said promptly.

Twenty minutes later, Sirius still had no idea what he was doing and Rose was getting antsy. "I don't know what to tell you, Sirius!" she said. "Look, lunch break is over and we have to go to-" she gulped, "Arithmancy." Avoiding his eyes, she practically raced out of the door. Grinning, he turned to Giselle, who was staring at him.

"You really do enjoy messing with her, don't you?" she said knowingly. He squinted his eyes at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can do a braid. You've braided my hair perfectly before. _You_ were just trying to get her stressed out before our exam so you could win your little bet."

"No, I wasn't!" Sirius said, outraged. "I would never do that. I was messing with her, yes, but not for any...evil purposes! You know," he said, gathering his books, "I really am quite offended. Humph." He walked out of the common room door as well. When he reached the Arithmancy classroom, Professor Locke was handing out the test and Rose was muttering under her breath. Sirius walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "You know, we haven't decided what to do if there's a tie."

"Unnecessary. There won't be a tie; I'm going to win." Sirius chuckled and sat down next to James.

"Alright everyone, settle down now," Professor Locke called. "Open your tests in three...two...one." On one, everyone's tests opened and there was a flurry of quill-grabbing. Sirius looked at the first question.

Graph this function: f (x)=(4x^2+6x^4)3-x

Sirius took a deep breath and began.

An hour and a half later, the bell rang and Sirius wiped his brow off with the back of his hand. He looked over at Rose, who was grinning at him. "You lost, you know," she called at him, as she gathered her books and put them in her bag. He shook his head and got up. "We both know I won, Rose," he said. "I'll see you at dinner." He kissed her on the cheek and walked out the door, running a little to catch up to Peter and James. "Where's Moony?" he asked.

"He muttered something about Astronomy and ran off as soon as the bell rung. How'd it go?" James asked.

"I don't know. We'll see. What about you, Wormtail?" Sirius turned to Peter, who was looking ashen and sweaty.

"I'm sure I failed it, and I'm not feeling very good," he groaned. "I must have had some bad lamb chops at lunch-" Peter stopped and grabbed Sirius' robes and began to retch.

"Oh-um, okay, let's get you to the Hospital Wing," Sirius said hurriedly, and tried to pry Peter's vice-like grip off of his shirt. James grabbed Peter's bag and wand, which he had dropped, and took one of his elbows. They half-dragged him to Madam Pomfrey's office, and were promptly shooed out by her as soon as she saw Peter, who had fainted.

Scratching the back of his head, Sirius walked with James to Greenhouse Five. When they had briefed Professor Alfalfus about Peter's condition, they walked to the Gryffindor table, where Lily, Giselle and Rose were waiting.

"Mate, there's only one place left," James said. Lily grabbed James' elbow and pulled him towards her, frowning at Sirius. He sighed and went over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down on the bench at the very end. Looking to his right, his stomach clenched as he saw who was sitting next to him, and he turned away as fast as he could. He hoped she hadn't noticed.

"So. I heard you're with _Rose Waldorf_ now. Is that true?" Sirius sighed.

"Hi, Sarah. Yeah, I am." He looked back at her, and her eyebrows narrowed.

"Why? I didn't think blondes were your type," she sneered. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Shows how much I've changed, I guess," he said sarcastically. He wondered why he ever dated someone so mean.

"Well, I don't like it. I don't think you-"

"I don't care how you feel about it, Sarah. Stay away from her, okay? Just leave it alone." He turned determinedly back to the front as Professor Alfalfus began to talk.

**James**

"Who's that?" Rose whispered to James as she began to pour squid ink on the Screechsnap plant.

"Oh. That's Sirius' ex, Sarah Keys," James answered. "She's horrible. They went out for about five weeks last year, which was all he could handle. Anything he did wasn't enough, and she's a really jealous person."

"She looks like she'd be awful," Rose said. "Sirius looks like he's having a hard time, doesn't he?" James looked over at the Ravenclaw table, where Sirius was inching away from Sarah, and shooting dirty looks at James.

"Yeah, he does," James said, grinning. Rose hit him in the arm. "Ow! We've only got about forty minutes left, anyway," he said. "Let him squirm." Rose smiled and said, "Well, he has been rather pompous lately, hasn't he? You're right, let's leave him."

When class was over, James trudged up the green to the castle, covered in squid ink and Screechsnap oil. "Do we even have time to take a shower before Potions?" Lily groaned, catching up to him.

"Definitely not, but we do have time to do this." James pulled out his wand and said, "_Tergeo!_" All of the liquid was siphoned off Lily's robes and into his wand.

"Wow!" she squealed, her face lighting up. "That was so cool!" James laughed.

"What, you've never seen that before? I'll do it again. _Tergeo!_" he said again, pointing his wand at a random Hufflepuff, who jumped as all of the dirt was siphoned off him. Laughing, James turned back to Lily, who clapped her hands.

"That was really cool. I've never heard of that one before." She threw one arm around James, and they walked up to the castle together.

**Rose**

"Seventh years, if you'll please line up at the front of the hall to collect your tests," Professor McGonagall called in her Scottish accent. Rose scooted the bench back and ran to the teachers' table, dodging past the other students to the front of the line. "Ah, Miss Waldorf," the Professor said, holding Rose's test out. "Congratulations, you did very well." Rose nodded gratefully and took the parchment, then stood at the edge to wait for Sirius. Her heart was thumping against her ribcage. She watched as Sirius took his test and grinned as he walked toward her. "I got an O," he said triumphantly. "How about you?"

"I also got an O, but how many did you get wrong?" she asked hopefully.

"Um..." Sirius scanned his page, then looked back up. "Two," he said. "And you?" Rose didn't say anything. "Er-Rose? Go on, tell me."

"Three. I got three wrong." She sighed and hung her head. "I can't believe this!"

"Hey," he said, and lifted her chin up. "It's okay. It was only one point; we both got Os. We can count it as a tie, if you want."

"But it _wasn't_ a tie. You won." She smiled halfheartedly. "I'm proud of you." She wrinkled her nose."Well, get on with it then. What did you want me to do? I'm ready." He looked at her curiously and tilted his head.

"I don't know. Despite what I said, I was pretty sure you were going to win, so I didn't bother to think of anything. Can I get back to you on that one?" Rose shook her head slowly.

"Sure, Sirius," she said, and leaned up to kiss him. "But you'd better make it good."

**Author's Note:**

Hi everybody! I am back from my loooooooong hiatus(I'm sorry about that, by the way). I know I said it would be May 9th, and it's been almost a month longer than that, but I was taking some classes at a college near here that I hadn't anticipated and I've been way too busy. However, I only have class for another 3 weeks(I'm doing a half-semester)and then I'll REALLY be back. Now, on another note, next chapter you can expect:

-The Christmas Ball

-A bit of drama

-A bit of fluff

If you have any requests, let me know. Again, I am _so_ sorry for how long it's been.

Review! Please review; you know how happy that makes me, and when I get happy, I update.

**DesmondHume**


	19. Chapter 19: The Ball

Chapter 18

**Rose**

It was Saturday night, and Rose, Lily, Giselle, Bette, and Eloise were getting ready for the ball.

The ball…there hadn't been too much hype about it this year, but that didn't stop anyone from being excited. This was THEIR year and it was going to be incredible. Even with all of the horrible things happening lately, all of the seventh year girls were ecstatic. Especially the Slytherins, which Rose did NOT see coming.

"Rose, will you hand me my hairbrush?" Eloise asked. Rose handed her her silver-backed brush.

"I used to have one of these," she said. "I don't know what happened to it." Lily ran up to Rose, looking flustered.

"Rose, my zipper is stuck," she said worriedly. "Can you help me?" Sighing, Rose put down her lipstick and helped Lily with her dress.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered as she wrestled with the zipper. "This thing is demented-ouch!" Rose flapped her hand in pain. "I broke a nail," she hissed. "This is all your fault."

"Sorry!" Lily said, taken aback.

"I was talking to your zipper," Rose said. "Maybe I can fix it. Reparo!" Her nail reattached itself. "That's so cool," she said. "I guess it works because my nail isn't alive." She picked up her lipstick and her lipstick brush and went back to work, but her lipstick was red and she was messing up. "Giselle, will you help me for a second? I can't get my makeup on right." Giselle had the most steady hands that Rose had ever known, which was good because Giselle wanted to be a Healer.

"Aaaaand…done," she announced. "Wow. You look fabulous, Rose." Rose surveyed herself in the mirror. She really did look magnificent. Her skin was creamy and pure and her lips stood out in contrast. Her hair was half-up half-down again. The only thing that she needed was her dress.

Standing up with a grunt, she walked over to the closet and got out her garment bag. She undid the buttons and smiled when she saw her dress. She had bought the one she had tried on in Hogsmeade the day of the fire, and it luckily hadn't been harmed. Lily's and Giselle's had gotten a bit singed, but it was nothing they couldn't repair with magic.

She took off her silk robe, stepped into her dress, and zipped up the zipper, luckily without any trouble. She took her shoes out of the box and put them on her feet. Bette glanced at her and did a double-take. "Wow, Rose," she said softly. "You look amazing."

"Yes, I do, don't I?" Rose smiled. "So do you. Wow, you REALLY do, Eloise. Do you have a date?"

"No," she sighed. "But I'm alright. One day, right?"

"One day," Rose agreed. She walked over to Lily's bunk to see if she needed anything. She didn't. "You guys, I'm going to the common room to meet Sirius, okay?"

"Yeah, meet you there," Lily said. Giselle nodded but didn't say anything, as she was putting lipliner on.

Rose smoothed her hair a little as she walked down the stairs. She heard a thump and looked back: Sirius was leaving the boys' dormitory. They smiled at each other and she took his arm. "You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen," Sirius said. "I mean it. Ever." Rose smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Well, you look rather dapper yourself," she said. They entered the common room where James was furiously combing his hair and Peter was playing Gobstones with Remus. James complimented her and asked where Lily was. "She'll be down in a minute," Rose said. "Peter, where's Marsha?" Peter look up, taken aback.

"Me? Oh-er, Marsha and I are going to meet at her common room…I should probably go now, actually," he said worriedly and stuffed his wand in his pocket, running out of the door. Marsha was a pudgy sixth-year Hufflepuff, and Peter had finally got up the courage to ask her out.

"Remus, Giselle's just finishing up, but she should be down with Lily." She looked at Sirius. "Should we go?" He nodded and they waved goodbye. "See you in a minute." They exited the tower and Sirius stopped to bow at the Fat Lady, who blushed and smashed the Christmas ornament she was holding.

"I wonder what it will be like," Sirius said as they turned a corner. "We've never been allowed to go, and none of the seventh-years have ever asked us."

"I'm sure it'll be great," Rose said dreamily. "I heard that Professor McGonagall is in charge of the decorations, though…let's just hope it's not too tartan."

"Professor Flitwick is supposed to help her. He'll tone it down a little. I just hope that they have good food…I mean, I know it's Hogwarts, but remember third year when they served those weird lamb things?"

"Oh yeah! Although Dumbledore thought they were delicious…but you know, he has an affinity for Acid-Pops. Let's never eat at his house."

"Done," Sirius agreed. They turned the last corner and reached the Great Hall. "Wow," Sirius said, impressed. "Wow." Rose silently agreed with him. The Hall had been turned into Rose's vision of a perfect winter-snowy, sparkly, white. There were Christmas trees turned gold with elaborate chains of silver, light gold spherical lamps floating in the air, snowflakes falling from the ceiling that disappeared just before they touched you, and in the middle, an enormous marble dance floor. The rest of the floor was glittering with diamond-like shine, and the four house tables had been replaced by about twenty round glass tables. As they walked in, two house-elves handed them champagne and glided away. Peter and Marsha waved at them from a nearby table, and they went to say hi.

"You look incredible, Marsha," Rose said.

"Thanks," Marsha said, and smiled, showing off her pearly-white teeth. "So do you; I love your dress." Rose took a sip of her champagne and marveled at how smooth it was.

"Ooh, look at the food!" Rose said excitedly and practically ran to the nearest table. "Can you hold this, Sirius?" She stuffed her champagne into his hands and grabbed a plate, loading it with all kinds of delicacies. "Wow, I forgot how much I loved these things!" she said, eating a cannoli.

"Well, you can't say she doesn't eat," Sirius joked with a passing Slytherin. "Am I right?" The Slytherin spared him a disgusted look and Sirius shook his head.

"Let's sit over here," Rose suggested as Lily and James walked into the Hall, jaws dropping in wonder. She gave Sirius a quick kiss before enthusiastically diving into her plate of food. "Wow, this is delicious," she remarked, and turned to see what Sirius thought. He was staring at the group of Slytherins that that boy had just walked over to. Rose put her fork down. "What's wrong?" Sirius' head snapped back to her.

"Oh. Nothing, it's just…I think those guys are friends of my brother's. I—I haven't seen him since we've been at Hogwarts." He grimaced a little.

"We…we've been at Hogwarts for four months, Sirius," she said. "You really didn't talk to him for that long?" He started to say something but Lily and James walked up, each holding a plate of food.

"Hey, can we sit here?" James asked.

"Sure, but we were just about to go dance," Rose said, and grabbed Sirius' arm, thinking longingly of her dinner. "Make sure no one eats my food!"

There were seven other couples on the dance floor, including Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, who was barely able to reach McGonagall's waist because of his incredible girth. Rose shuddered inwardly and slunk into Sirius' chest, putting her chin on his shoulder. She breathed in and realized he smelled like oranges. "I know you don't like to talk about your family, so you don't have to," she murmured. "But if you ever want to, just know that it's okay."

"Thanks," he said, and rubbed the middle of her back. "Are you excited about London?"

"Definitely. Even though I love school like I love food, I could use a little break. And it's our last year. We should take advantage of it."

"And we will," he said. "We'll do some touristy stuff, and some regular stuff too. I know you and I have probably done all the touristy stuff before, but James and Remus live in the suburbs. Besides, it'll be fun." They were silent as they swayed to the slow song. "I told you how beautiful you look, right?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," she smiled. "You did."

**Giselle**

Giselle sat back in her chair, listening to the music. She watched James and Lily dancing and grinned as James did a particularly ridiculous move. Lily laughed and kissed him. Giselle turned away, feeling a twinge in her stomach. She slumped down and took another bite of her cake, feeling suddenly lonely. "Hey," Remus said, as he got back with their butterbeer. "Are you alright?" Giselle sighed.

"Yeah. I just wish I had someone." She took the butterbeer from his hand and took a sip.

"You do. You have all of your friends."

"I know. That's not what I meant. I'm really grateful you brought me as your friend, but I-"

"Giselle?" Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she looked around. It was Jack. She looked back at Remus. He grinned and cleared his throat.

"Er, I'm going to get more-er, butterbeer." He pushed his bottle out of sight and got up, slipping into the crowd. Jack sat in Remus' vacated seat.

"Hey," he said. "What's up? Do you have a date?"

"No. Do you?" she asked.

"No, but I was wondering if maybe you wanted to be my date?" he asked tentatively. "I would've asked you sooner…I should've. I'm sorry." She smiled.

"Really?" He nodded.

"Listen, I heard you were going to be in London for a couple weeks. I'm going to be there for three days with my family; why don't we hang out then?" She nodded. "How about 7:30 on Wednesday at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Okay, yeah. That sounds-that sounds great, Jack" she said.

"Then it's a date." He smiled and walked back to his friends. As soon as he vacated his chair, Remus and Rose swooped in.

"Giselle! What happened?" Rose said excitedly, and Remus leaned in.

"Well, he said he should have asked me out sooner and we're going on a date in London. Wow, I'm really excited!" Lily hugged her.

"I'm excited for you too! This is so great!" Lily said. James walked up and high-fived Giselle, and then asked,

"Mind if I steal her away?" Giselle shook her head. Remus congratulated her and said that he was going to bed, leaving Giselle alone with her thoughts. Well, only one thought really…after all this time, maybe she would have a chance at happiness.

**James**

James held Lily's hand as they ran down the hall, giggling. "James, where are we going?" she asked.

"Right…here," he said, as they stopped in front of the familiar stone wall.

"We're going to…this wall?" she said uncomprehendingly.

"Exactly," he said. "Stand here." Lily stood in her spot, bewildered, watching James run back and forth three times. As the door appeared, her eyes got huge.

"Is this the Come-and-Go Room?" she asked. "Giselle and I read about it in a really old, mangy textbook last year. I've been looking for it!" she said accusingly.

"Well, here it is," he smiled. "We've known about it since third year. Sirius told me he brought Rose but swore her to secrecy."

"Well that wasn't very nice," she said, but James could see that her eyes were sparkling. "Can we go in?"

"Of course," he said, and pushed the door open. "Ta-da!" He had decorated the room earlier with garlands and ornaments and lit some candles.

"Wow. It's beautiful," she said. She looked up at him and said genuinely, "Thanks for showing me this, James. It's obviously been a Marauder secret for a while."

"Well, you're one of us now, Lily," he replied. "Come here." He kissed her, softly at first but then she bit his lip a little. He moaned involuntarily and they half-walked over to the couch, where they lied down on it, James on top of Lily. "I love you," Lily said, and wrapped her legs around his waist, sinking into him.

"I love you too," he murmured against her lips. He felt their tongues touch and he caressed her neck, feeling her pulse throb against his hand. She ripped off his shirt, sending buttons flying across the room, and he unzipped the side of her dress, feeling her velvety skin. He couldn't believe this was happening. "Lily-" he said softly, but she unzipped his pants and he moaned again. "Lily, stop," he whispered. She shook her head, kissing his chest as she slid her hand down his thigh. "Lily, I can't," he said, and it took all his resolve to get up. "I didn't bring you here to do this." She was lying on the couch, looking smooth and beautiful but upset. The light from the fireplace was gleaming on her body.

"I know you didn't. But it's not a bad thing," she said, standing up and brushing the hair out of her eyes. "It would be a good thing."

"It would be a great thing," he said. "But I don't think we're ready yet." She bit her lip.

"Maybe you're right." She looked at him. "I'm embarrassed."

"Don't be." He stepped towards her and gave her a kiss. "We may not be doing that, but we can still do this." He grabbed a large pelt from the couch and spread it on the floor in front of the fire, and a blanket from a shelf. He lied down under the blanket and patted the space next to him. She cocked her head. "Come on," he said, struggling to get up. He walked back to her, picked her up, and carried her to the hearth.

"James," she said, laughing. She snuggled up to his chest, blinking up at him. "I'm still embarrassed."

"Don't be," he murmured, and stroked her bare back. "Lily." She kissed the hollow underneath his chin and sighed.

"Okay." She was silent for a minute and then asked, "No one's going to come in here, right? Because both of us are almost naked and I'm sure this is against school rules."

"No, no one'll come in. That's the great thing about the Room of Requirement. And I told Sirius that I was going to take you here, so no one will worry about us." He kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep, Lil." He closed his eyes, and realized how good this felt; her warm body pressed against him. This was what he wanted for the rest of his life.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hello, everybody. I am SO sorry about that second ridiculously long hiatus, but I was out of town for a very long time. I probably should have said something to you guys!

Anyway, what did you think about the chapter? Are you happy about Jack and Giselle? How do you feel about the new step for Lily and James? How do you want Rose and Sirius to progress?

I'll have the next chapter (yay London!) up by Sunday morning at the latest. As usual, review, review, REVIEW! If I get over ten reviews, I'll put the next chapter up by Wednesday evening.

**DesmondHume**


	20. Chapter 20: London, Part 1

Chapter 20

**Sirius**

Sirius stuck his head up the stairwell and yelled, "Oy! James! Come on, we're going to be late and they'll kill us!" He heard a slightly strangled grunt from the boys' dormitory and went up to check it out. James was struggling to pick up one of his four bags off the floor. Sirius stared at him incredulously. "Prongs…all I can say is, I guess Lily _has _had some influence on you after all." James looked up, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

"What? I have a lot of stuff to take with me, that's all," he said defensively and gave another halfhearted tug at his suitcase.

"Come on," Sirius scoffed as he pulled out his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The luggage sprang readily into the air, quivering slightly.

"You know, it's not that bad," said James as they walked down the stairs. "I mean, did you see what Peter brought? He has a whole other trunk! His total may only be three bags, but at least mine are smaller than his…" he trailed off, frowning slightly.

"Mate, Peter's like that. Besides, that big trunk you're talking about is filled with a month's supply of food. I mean, you'd think we were going to Siberia or something." They reached the common room and found Lily and Giselle waiting for them, each with a reasonably sized trunk and a handbag. Sirius looked at James pointedly before setting his things down with a slight thump.

"What is _that_?" Giselle asked disgustedly, nodding at James' luggage.

"Aargh! I don't want to talk about it, okay?" James said in a hurt tone of voice. Lily beckoned him over and kissed him on the cheek, her mouth twitching. Sirius heard someone curse from upstairs and smiled. "That'll be Rose." He bounded up the stairs and saw her struggling to lock the dormitory door while maintaining a steady grip on her owl, Hera.

"I'll do that," he said, and gallantly locked the door with his wand, sending HERA gliding down the stairs, Rose's trunk close behind. "You're looking magnificent this morning," Sirius said happily.

"Well, look who woke up on the right side of the bed," Rose said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "And you don't look too bad yourself."

"Guess what," Sirius whispered into Rose's ear as they walked down the steps. She stopped.

"What?"

"We're going to London today!" Sirius said excitedly.

"I know!" Rose replied and jumped up and down a few times. "Sirius, my family is just going to _love_ you. They really will. And don't feel pressured into anything…I mean, hopefully they won't make you uncomfortable, but my dad is probably going to interrogate you a little bit." They resumed walking down the stairs.

"What do you mean, interrogate?"

"You know, like, 'what are your intentions for my daughter?' and 'are you an honorable man?' and such. But don't worry about it too much, because NOTHING they say about you is going to change how I feel." This time, Sirius stopped.

"What do you mean, nothing they say is going to change how you feel? What would they say?" Rose suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Oh-no, Sirius, I didn't mean that they would _say_ something, I just meant-"

"You think they're going to judge me, don't you? Because I'm a Black?"

"No, Sirius, that's _not_ what I-"

"Do you judge me too? Is that how you feel about me? Do you think I'm just like my family-a bunch of Voldemort supporters and under-the-table Death Eaters?" Rose looked stricken. "Well, I'm not. I've told you that before; I'm not like my family." He turned on his heel and walked down the remainder of the steps into the common room, storming past his friends, who had gone silent. He walked out of the room and slammed the Fat Lady shut, knocking her over and causing her to scream shrilly. Just before she closed, he heard Rose yell his name.

**Lily**

Lily grabbed her trunk and threw it into the fireplace, along with Rose's and Giselle's. "You go first with our stuff, okay, Rose?" she asked. She nodded and wiped her nose. "Okay. See you later." Rose stepped into the fireplace and Professor McGonagall bustled around her desk, opening a small velvet bag.

"Alright Ms Waldorf, you know what to do," McGonagall said. She threw a pinch of Floo powder into the grate and green flames shot up, licking Rose's loose curls as if waiting to devour them. Rose looked around miserably one last time. "We'll get him there, Rose," Lily said. "I'll do it myself, okay?" Rose nodded.

"Waldorf Estate, Kensington Palace Gardens, London!" she stated clearly, and she and the baggage disappeared with a slight pop. Lily turned to James and gave him a hug.

"I know you're Sirius' best friend, but I think…maybe this is a bit more of a woman's thing. We can be pretty convincing when we need to be," she chuckled.

"Well I'll keep that in mind, Lil," James said. "Don't you think Giselle should try and talk to him, though? I mean, they're best friends too."

"I'd agree with you, but I think I know where he is. And Giselle could have no way of knowing." She glared meaningfully at him until he got it.

"Oh! You're probably right; he does go there a lot. Okay. Just…don't keep me waiting TOO long," he said charmingly, giving her a toothy smile.

"I won't be longer than an hour. See you then." She kissed him goodbye, then waved at everyone else and stepped out of McGonagall's office, thinking about the fastest route to the Room of Requirement. Hopefully he'd be there…if not, she had no idea where he might be and she was screwed. But better not to think about that until the time hopefully didn't come.

She sprinted up a corridor and took a right, barely dodging a pair of Slytherins who were snickering over a piece of parchment. She skidded to a stop right in front of the tapestry of trolls, whom she realized were ballet dancing. Strange.

She ran back and forth in front of the blank wall three times(this was what she'd seen James do through the blindfold, which was not very blinding), and a mahogany door appeared. Sighing with relief, she pushed the door open with her shoulder and saw Sirius staring at her bewilderedly.

"Oh. You." He shut the door with a wave of his wand and walked over to the couch, sinking into it. "I forgot you knew about this place."

"Yeah…James showed me last night," she said, trying to keep a straight face. "Listen Sirius, come on. McGonagall closes the Floo Network to Hogwarts in about forty minutes with absolutely no exceptions. We both know you won't stay mad at Rose for very long, so just…come on, okay?" He turned to her, stony faced.

"I'll come with you, Lily. I was going to go in a minute, anyway. I just wanted to go after Rose was already gone." Lily walked over the to the couch and sat down next to him.

"You're really mad at her, huh?" she asked.

"No. I'm not really mad, I just feel sort of stupid. Of course she thinks those things about me, and quite honestly, who can blame her?" He sighed. "I can't believe I'm about to tell you this, but whenever I try to get…closer…with her, there's this distance between us, and she won't talk about it. Now I know why."

"Oh…Sirius, that's not WHY," Lily said emphatically. "No, a couple of weeks ago, she talked to me about…er, about being…intimate…with you." She cleared her throat. "Er, she said that she was nervous, because she was sure you had all of this experience and, you know, she doesn't have that much. And she didn't SAY this, but it's so obvious that she's never felt about anyone like she feels about you." He blinked at her. "Did you know anything about this?"

"Yeah…a little. But I'm still getting a different vibe from her, Lily. I mean, I guess that could be part of it but there's still," he wrung his hands together, "something else." Lily wrinkled her nose.

"Okay. Well just come on then, because we don't have much time. You don't even have to talk to her right away, okay?" Sirius nodded.

"Okay. Let's go." They left the Room of Requirement and ran back to Professor McGonagall's office with ten minutes to spare. She looked at them approvingly.

"Here is your trunk, Mr. Black," she said. "Mind you take good care of your things while you're gone. Now, in you go." They scrunched into the fireplace, Sirius almost bent double, as McGonagall scooped some metallic powder onto the wood and the green flames burst up.

"Waldorf Estate, Kensington Palace Gardens, London!" Lily yelled at the wall, and with a slight squeezing sensation, Professor McGonagall's face disappeared and they tumbled onto the clean burgundy rug of the Waldorf's foyer. James helped her up and gave her a squeeze, saying, "Mrs. Waldorf wants to see you before she leaves." He brushed a thin layer of dust off of her hair and they walked into the kitchen where Rose, Giselle, Peter, and Remus were sitting with the beautiful Mrs. Waldorf, eating scones and sipping tea.

"Lily!" Rose's mother said welcomingly, and got up to give her a hug. "How have you been? You're even more gorgeous than the last time I saw you!" Lily smiled hugely and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Aunt Eva," she said. "So are you."

"I was just offering the kids some of this cake Cheryl made; it really is delicious," she said warmly. "I'm so sorry I can't stay for dinner, but Charles and I have a dinner party we just can't get out of. I expect you and your friends want to be alone, anyway," she said knowingly. "Anyhow, we'll all have dinner together tomorrow at The Silver Unicorn, alright? And on Christmas Eve, of course." She gave Lily a quick peck on the cheek and got her coat, then turned on the spot and apparated.

"She's not really your aunt, is she?" James asked curiously.

"Not technically. She's an honorary aunt, but she's my still my favorite." She turned to Rose, who was looking worried. "He's here. Last time I saw him, he was in the foyer." She nodded and turned to go, but before she could, the Waldorf's chef Cheryl came in the kitchen to ask what they wanted for dinner. When nobody could answer, she shooed them out and said it was far too late to be eating anything anyway, but that Mrs. Waldorf was right about her cake being excellent and they could just eat that. Rose turned to them miserably.

"Aaw," Remus said, and rubbed her back. "Come on, I'll get you a slice of cake and talk to Sirius, okay? Let's just go to bed. I'm sure Sirius will be fine by the morning." Rose nodded.

"You're right. I'll get the cake, and you can take everyone to the East Wing, Lily. Mother says you can pick your own rooms." She went back into the kitchen and Lily led the way.

"Okay, I know this house by heart and the East Wing has seven huge bedrooms. The family's rooms are on the top floor of the North Wing, although I'm sure Rose will sleep here with us." Peter went into the first room, marveling at the high ceilings. Lily grabbed James' arm and said, "You're sleeping with me. Come on, this is the biggest one." They raced to the end of the hall and Lily jumped on the bed, squealing.

"This is amazing," James said in awe. "How did the Waldorfs get so much gold? I want some!" He flopped on the bed and pulled Lily's arm, sending her down on top of him. "This is going to be the best break ever." He kissed her and she ran her fingers through his hair, shivering.

"I know." They lay silent for a minute until she leapt up, grinning. "Let's unpack our stuff!" They had to abandon this about five minutes later when Rose knocked at their door, holding half of a chocolate cake decorated with raspberries and edible gold.

"Come on, let's eat it in my room," she said, and Lily and James walked to the room across the hall. "Er…James, would you mind eating with everyone else? I want to hang out with Lily and Giselle." Lily frowned but relinquished James' hand, agreeing to meet back in their room in half an hour. Giselle walked in holding three plates and some spoons, and Lily spread a blanket on the floor. "Let's eat!" Rose said animatedly, digging into her plate.

"Hey, this is really great," Giselle said, beaming at both of them.

"The cake or our plans?" asked Lily.

"Both, actually. I was talking about our plans, though. I mean…it all seems so perfect, you know? We're all getting along just fine, once Rose makes up with Sirius," Giselle said.

"_He's_ the one that needs to make up with me. But whatever. I don't want to talk about that right now. No, _I_ want to talk about why Lily didn't come back to the common room last night," she said, eyes glittering. "Now, Lily, what were you doing?"

Giselle put down her spoon.

"You didn't come back to the—yeah, Lily, what _were_ you doing last night?" she asked excitedly. Lily blushed and ate another bite of cake before she said anything.

"Oh, you know. Not much." Even Rose put her spoon down this time, although admittedly her cake was gone.

"Come _on_. Did you guys have sex?" she asked in a businesslike tone of voice. Lily turned a furious shade of scarlet. "DID you?"

"No. We didn't." She groaned. "We were pretty close, but then his chivalry kicked in. He said something along the lines of us not being 'ready' and we just slept on the floor." Rose sighed disappointedly. "_But_, he wasn't wearing a shirt or pants and I was only wearing lingerie!"

"Ooh, Lily," Rose said, and laughed. "Seriously, though. Wow."

"I know." She took another bite of cake and wondered if even James was capable of making something as delicious as this.

"How did it happen? Did you, you know, did you want to do it?" Giselle asked interestedly.

"Well, he said some great stuff and then we were kissing and then for some reason, it just…went to the next level. It was like some sort of hunger. It got sort of uncontrollable and we took off each other's clothes and then—he stopped us." She sighed. "And yes, I wanted to." They ate their cake for a minute, Rose on her second slice, until Giselle asked:

"So what happens now? I mean, you guys are sleeping in the same room…do you think it'll happen while you're here?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll see. I promise I'll let you guys know if anything does happen, though."

"We're all really growing up, aren't we?" said Rose. "I remember when we were little first years, riding the Hogwarts Express, and now look at us."

Forty minutes later, Lily was lying next to James in the enormous bed, unpacked and freshly showered. "What are we going to do?" Lily whispered into the darkness.

"Oh, is that an invitation?" James whispered back, and inched closer to her, putting her head on his shoulder. She pushed away and said, "I meant tomorrow!" He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist, reeling her back in. "I know." She struggled futilely for a second and then gave in, nuzzling closer to his neck. He smelled good.

"Night, Lil. Love you." She kissed his collarbone and drifted off to sleep.

**Rose**

Rose woke up with a start and grabbed her wand, glancing at the clock. It was 4:27 AM. "_Lumos_!" she said blearily and blinked rapidly, focusing her vision. "Sirius?" He shut the door and tiptoed over to her, stopping at the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" He nodded.

"Can I sleep in here?" he asked. She didn't say anything. "Er—Rose?" She nodded.

"What?," she said, confused. He took off his shirt and Rose's breath hitched in her throat. "_Nox_," she whispered, and set her wand back down on the bedside table. She crawled over to him, unable to see, and he put one arm around her. "Sirius, are you sure you're alright?" she asked worriedly.

"No. I'm not." He leaned his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to you. I know they weren't true."

"I forgive you," she said. "But I wish you'd give us a little credit." She could feel him looking at her.

"Us?"

"Yeah, us. No one thinks that about you. If anyone does, you think that about yourself, Sirius. But it's not true. And more than anyone, YOURE the person who needs to understand that." She lightly brushed the side of his face and just barely kissed his lips. "Come here." She pulled him into an embrace and she felt him relax in her arms.

"I've never met anyone like you, Rose. You're extraordinary." He pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers, so that their lips almost touched.

"Just so you know, you can sleep with me every night if you want to," she said. He laughed and cupped her face with his hands.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," he said, and kissed her. For a good five minutes they did nothing but kiss each other until Sirius commented that her lips were getting swollen. "Maybe we should stop," he whispered. "And Rose, I want to you to know something." She waited nervously. "Do you remember my ex, Sarah Keys?" She nodded. "I just…want to be honest with you, okay?"

"Okay," she said.

"Sarah and I…well, we had sex. Last year on Boxing Day." Rose felt her heart skip a beat. "I wanted you to know that. And I also want you to know," he took a breath, "that you're different. If we ever do it, it would be different with us. I've never felt about anyone how I feel about you."

"Me neither," she said. "And it's okay." She kissed him again, ignoring the pain of her lips, and rubbed his chest. "Let's go to sleep." They lie on their backs, her head on his shoulder, and fell asleep.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys. Sorry I didn't post on Sunday, I had some personal stuff, but I wrote my longest chapter yet!

What do you think?

Review review review!

**DesmondHume**


	21. Chapter 21: London, Part 2

Chapter 21—London, Part 2

Lily

Lily woke up to a bright ray of sunlight on her cheek. It was warm.

She sat up and pushed the hair out of her face, then looked over at James. He was sprawled over the left side of the bed, tangled in the comforter, sheets on the floor. There was a drool spot right next to his mouth. She made a face and swiveled around to put her feet on the plush teal rug, yawning. She attempted to stand up, but immediately sat back down because of a dizzying head-rush. She tried again.

Walking over to the bathroom, she noticed a small bruise on her shin where James must have accidentally kicked her last night. He really was a restless sleeper. Ah, well. At least he was cute.

She turned on the shower, stripped, and tested the water with her foot before hopping in. The Waldorfs always had such beautifully scented soaps and shampoos that she hadn't bothered bringing any; at the moment, jasmine. She smiled. Aunt Eva always bought her her favorite things. She lathered up and piled her hair on top of her head while using a fluffy loofa to scrub her body. She heard a swish as James opened the door, bringing in a rush of cold air.

"Hey," Lily called over the sound of the water. James grunted. "My, you're not very talkative in the mornings, are you?" Lily chuckled. James grunted again. She wrapped herself in a towel and turned off the water. She stepped out of the shower and saw James, looking very disheveled, bending over the sink as he brushed his teeth. His eyes looked puffy.

She walked back into the glorious, airy bedroom and got dressed, choosing her outfit very carefully. Leaving James to get ready by himself (he always took _forever_), she went into the kitchen. Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting at the huge marble table while Cheryl, the cook, lectured them on the importance of fresh eggs. "You see, they just won't poach properly," she droned, "if they're not fresh from the farm. Really, I thought everyone knew that—what are they teaching you at that school of yours?"

"Morning!" Lily said spiritedly as she grabbed a fresh muffin from the counter.

"Lily, thank _god_—I mean, good morning," Sirius said, jumping up to give her a hug. Remus gave her a nod; he was busy sipping a mug of coffee with gusto.

"I'm not making dinner because Mrs. Waldorf says you all are going to the Silver Unicorn," Cheryl said in her Russian accent. "Don't have high expectations, Lily, because I can make a much better _religieuse au chocolat_than they can, and they know it, too." Lily assured her that she didn't and got a mug of tea, smiling to herself.

"How did you sleep?" she asked Peter, who sighed happily.

"Like a dream," he said. "The sheets are so soft."

"Yeah, and the bed is so smushy," said Remus. "I can just lie down and sink in it and never want to get up. I didn't think that beds more comfortable than Hogwarts' existed, but apparently I was wrong!" He took another sip of his coffee and smiled. "So where are we going today?" Lily looked at her watch.

"Well, it's almost eleven o'clock now. I heard everyone else getting ready, so they'll all be down in a minute. . . .I say we go get brunch and then go shopping!" She suppressed a squeal. "It's Christmas Eve and I haven't gotten anything for anyone. And I'm sure you haven't either," she said, looking knowingly at Sirius.

"Actually, _Lily_, I have," Sirius said. "I've already gotten myself a whole case of sweets from Honeydukes." Lily rolled her eyes as Rose, Giselle, and James came tromping into the kitchen, looking very excited. James gave her a quick peck on the cheek and Sirius did the same to Rose. Lily looked confusedly from Rose to Sirius, but Rose shook her head quickly and mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

"So what're the plans?" Giselle asked with a mouthful of muffin. Peter repeated the schedule to everybody.

"Yay!" exclaimed Rose. "We should go to brunch at The Wolesely. Mom always takes me there for breakfast and brunch…and tea and dinner, come to think of it," Rose said. "I love that place." They all agreed and went to get their coats. Lily pulled Giselle and Rose aside and said, "What happened? With Sirius?"

"Okay, so he comes into my room at like 4:30 in the morning and says he's sorry. And then we kissed for a while and fell asleep." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm a bit confused, but I'm not complaining!"

"Maybe he just realized he was being stupid," said Giselle. "I mean, he was. Being stupid."

"Don't worry about it," Lily said. "Whatever the reason he got angry, he's over it now. Don't poke a sleeping dragon!"

"You're right," Rose said, biting her lips. "Okay. From now on, I'm not going to mention it again! Ever! Unless—do you think he wants me to?" she asked nervously.

"No. You're not doing this. Come on, let's get our coats," Giselle said, grabbing her by the arm and shooing her into the cloakroom. "I want to get brunch, _now."_

**Sirius**

"Merlin's beard," Sirius exhaled, rubbing his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut. "I don't think I've ever eaten that much in my entire life—and that's saying something. Now, I don't like the little rotter, but Kreacher cooks up a storm whenever '_Mistress Black_' asks him to, and the Hogwarts house-elves always make such amazing feasts, but I have to tell you—" he paused for breath, "—those muggles sure can cook."

"I know," James groaned, "but I just couldn't stop _eating_! I mean, they just kept bringing us this amazing food . . . .Did you have their eggs Benedict? Or their tart?"

"I did," said Remus happily. "It really was good, wasn't it?"

After finishing brunch at about 2:30, they'd split up. The girls were shopping on Oxford Street and the boys had gone to Diagon Alley. Right now, of course, they were in Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop.

Sirius turned around quickly as he heard a crash from behind him. Peter had just tripped on a marble and grabbed at the shelf, sending vials of Unpoppable Bubble Juice down on top of him. Sirius sighed and went to help him up as James muttered, "_Tergeo_," and siphoned away the liquid.

"Thanks," muttered Peter, looking embarrassed. Remus clapped him on the back.

"Hey, why don't we get some ice cream at Fortescue's?" suggested James. Sirius stared at him incredulously.

"Did you not _just_ finish saying how full you were?"

"Yeah. So?"

"I could go for some ice cream, mate," said Remus as Peter nodded eagerly behind him. Sirius reluctantly agreed and they paid for their things. The witch at the front was looking harried and on the verge of a mild breakdown; apparently the rest of the wizarding world was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, too. They lugged their many bags of goodies down the street to the ice cream parlor, where Sirius and James grabbed a table and Remus and Peter went to order for them. Once they were back, James glanced around and said, in an undertone, "What's the deal, Padfoot? I mean, you disappeared to your room last night, fuming, but this morning I saw you come out of Rose's room. What happened?"

Sirius sighed. "I don't know. I guess I've been a bit paranoid lately. I keep waiting for something to go wrong, but nothing has yet."

"Well, maybe nothing will go wrong," Remus said. "You guys are clearly crazy about each other. It's making us jealous, right, Peter?"

"Not really," Peter said. "I have Marsha and James has Lily, so. . .it's kind of just you, Moony." Remus looked a bit put out.

"Hey, don't feel bad," James said consolingly. "All the girls are just jealous of your brains. They're intimidated."

"Do you honestly think that's true?" asked Remus with a disbelieving look on his face. James nodded stubbornly. Remus shook his head. "Well, whatever the reason, it's all right. I'm too busy right now, anyway.

"Really?" Peter asked. "Because Marsha has a friend. . ."

"I'm good," Remus reassured him. "Let's get back to Sirius."

"Er, let's not," said Sirius. "I was alright talking about other people."

"Come on, Padfoot, talk about your _feelings_," persuaded James. "You know you want to."

"Whatever. I guess this is the longest I've ever gone out with someone, so it's a bit weird, you know? And I don't want to ruin it, because I really, really like Rose, but I'm just not quite sure where to go from here." Peter nodded knowingly. "So, that's it. Enough about me. Let's talk about something else."

"How about those attacks in York, eh? Four dead and two missing. It's getting worse," said James.

"What happened in York is similar what happened to my cousin, Arabella," said Peter sadly. "They both had those—what do you call them, those Black Marks—"

"Dark Mark," Remus corrected him.

"Yeah, those Dark Marks above their houses. That's how the Aurors know it's You-Know-Who doing it," Peter finished.

"Apparently, that's become his trademark," said Remus knowledgeably. "It said in the _Prophet_ that You-Know-Who is leaving it as his signature. He's been doing it for about a year now."

"D'you think Hogwarts is safe?" asked Peter worriedly. "Arabella was always really good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he still . . ." he trailed off.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius interjected quickly. "He wouldn't bother. He's always been afraid of Dumbledore, and Hogwarts is impenetrable. Besides, someone's bound to catch him soon, and then it'll all get better."

"What if it doesn't get better?" James asked quietly. "What if no one can ever stop He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

They sat in silence, their ice creams forgotten.

**Rose**

Rose was possibly having the best day of her life. After having brunch at The Wolesely, they'd gone to Selfridges, an enormous department store on Oxford Street, for about two hours. Now they were in a little antique shop, attempting to buy gifts for their respective boyfriends.

"Should I get him this watch? Or a necklace? I've always thought necklaces were sexy on boys, but maybe James wouldn't wear it . . .what do you think, Rose?" Lily asked anxiously.

"I kind of think James would do anything you asked him to, but that doesn't mean you should ask him to wear a _necklace_, Lily. For Merlin's sake."

"So, the watch then? But don't you think that's sort of impersonal? What are you getting Sirius?"

"I don't know. I was going to get him a watch too," sighed Rose. "But we can't both get them the same thing. How about _I_ get Sirius a watch, and _you_ get James something else?" Lily opened her mouth and then closed it, her eyes lighting up.

"I know what to get him! You can get Sirius that watch, it's really lovely—" she ran off across the room to a bookshelf. Rose shook her head and picked up the watch that had caught her fancy and walked over to Giselle, who was trying on a very large, very feathery hat.

"Do you think I should make hats my thing?" Giselle asked, looking lovingly in the mirror. "I'm kind of liking this." Rose gagged and took the hat off of her head, shuddering.

"No. What do you think about this, for Sirius?" Giselle examined the watch.

"It's nice. It's not a wizarding watch, though."

"I know. I don't think he'll mind, though; he's never really seen the use in all of those extra hands. How about you, are you getting anything for Jack?" Giselle's eyebrows creased.

"Should I? I'm not seeing him until Wednesday, and it's our first date, and I don't know . . ."

"Maybe not! You're right," said Rose.

"No, _you're_right. But what should I get him? It should be something small, right? I mean, I shouldn't seem to eager or anything, should I? How about some toffee? Everyone likes toffee. But what if he's allergic to something? Or maybe it'll make his teeth stick together," she finished nervously.

"Wow, you are really overthinking this," Rose said. "Toffee is good. Cheryl always has some freshly made. I can ask her to wrap it up nicely for you." Giselle looked sweaty. "You'll be _fine_," Rose laughed. "Don't be nervous. You've liked each other for a while, and what could go wrong?"

"I guess that's true," said Giselle uncertainly, "but it's useless to tell me not to be nervous. I'm going to be nervous."

"Hey, we need to wrap this up," Lily called to them. "It's 5:30 and we're supposed to be at The Silver Unicorn by 6:00, and we need to go home and change." They paid for their things, Rose really hoping Sirius would like the watch, and took the Waldorfs' car back to her house. After dropping her gifts on the floor, she quickly dressed in a pale pink, scoop back dress and fixed her hair. She slung on her favorite pair of heels and wrapped Sirius' present in some gilded gold wrapping paper and threw it under her bed. She heard a knock on the door.

"Ready?" asked Lily breathlessly. She nodded and they grabbed Giselle, who was looking beautiful in a forest green dress, and hopped back in the car. Rose's parents were going to meet them there, and she was excited to see them and to eat. Once they arrived, she quickly ran over to Sirius and gave him a big kiss.

"Hi," he said, laughing. "I guess you missed me."

"I did," she grinned. "Er, you're looking a bit jittery." Sirius sighed.

"I'm a bit apprehensive about meeting your parents, to tell you the truth," he said.

"Right. That. Well, you have nothing to worry about. My mom has already met you, and my dad is going to love you. Just make sure not to mention anything about the Holyhead Harpies, okay? My dad hates them." He still looked a bit tense, so she gave him a quick squeeze and rubbed his back as her parents' car came around the corner. "Daddy!" she squealed as her dad came up to her and gave her a big hug, lifting her off the ground a little.

"Rosie! My baby girl, I missed you so much." He set her gently back down on the ground. "How are you, honey? You need to send us owls more often!" He kissed her on the cheek and turned to the rest of the group. "You must be Sirius," he said to Remus, shaking his hand emphatically. "You're not really what I was expecting, but you're a handsome young lad, aren't you?"

"Er—Dad, that's Remus," Rose said as he swiveled around. "_This_ is Sirius."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Sirius said nervously. Her dad clapped him on the back.

"Of course you are! Nice to meet you too, son. Call me Charles." He turned back to Remus. "Sorry about that. Shall we go in?" They all agreed and went inside, and Rose gave her mom a kiss on the cheek.

The restaurant was nicely dimmed, there were seven Christmas trees around the room, and some warm Christmas music was playing in the background. The maître d' seated them at a large round table in the corner. Rose chose a seat in between Sirius and her mother, with Lily on the other side of her mother and next to James. She smiled.

After they'd ordered a ham, two servings of Christmas pudding, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, chipolatas, steak and kidney pie, mince pie, chips, beet salad, regular salad, eggnog, mulled wine, and butterbeer, Rose's dad turned to Sirius.

"So, Sirius. What are your intentions for my daughter?" Sirius choked on his butterbeer and Rose whacked him on the back. Rose's mom said,

"Oh, let him be, dear. Sirius is a perfectly nice young man, aren't you, Sirius?" Sirius was at a loss for words; he just nodded. Her dad's mouth twitched at the corners.

"I'm kidding. I'm sure if Rosie's dating you, you're just fine." His eyes twinkled. Rose smiled at him from across the table as their waiter reappeared, somehow balancing all of the food on his hands. "Yes! The food's here!" James exclaimed, a look of boyish delight on his face. "How did it get here so fast? I love magic! I love food! I love Christmas! I love you, Lily!" He gave Lily a big kiss on the lips, and everyone applauded. Lily's face was strawberry red, but she smiled happily.

Rose's dad cleared his throat. "I'd like to take a moment to say how grateful I am that all of you are here. Rose, I've missed you so much—" he smiled a warm smile at her, "—and you girls too, Lily and Giselle. And it's lovely to meet all of you, especially you, Sirius, who I've heard so much about. Happy Christmas, enjoy your stay, and dig in!"

"He's really nice," Sirius whispered to her. "I was expecting him to be scarier . . . I mean, he's _Charles Waldorf_. And he's your father. But he's actually quite nice, isn't he?"

"Of course he's nice. I told you not to be worried. Besides, I can tell he likes you. Now stop talking and hand me the chipolatas already!" Sirius chuckled and handed her the chipolatas, the gravy, the peas and the mashed potatoes. She rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. "Happy Christmas," she whispered. He smiled.

They spent the next two hours talking, laughing, and (especially Rose) eating. The food was divine and the restaurant was bathed in a warm, happy glow. When the dessert finally came out, everyone was full, but no one cared. The cakes and tortes and trifles were so heavenly that they feasted without a care in the world. Rose's mom took a particular liking to Remus, whom she found very interesting.

As their very courteous waiter handed them all of the extra food, they managed to squeeze into one car. Everyone was feeling rather sluggish, and Rose spent the whole ride catnapping on her father's shoulder. When they got home, Sirius insisted on carrying her to her bed ("Like a perfect gentleman, I might add!" said her father) and tucking her under the covers. He went back to his room and Rose's dad came in, gave her a kiss, told her how big she had gotten, and left.

About fifteen minutes later, when she was almost asleep and everything was quiet, Sirius crept back in. "You didn't think I was going to leave you alone in this great big bed, did you?" he asked. He kissed her on the cheek, snuggled close to her, and they fell asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I'm back!

**DesmondHume**


End file.
